Angola is an oil-rich nation located in southern Africa, on the Atlantic coast of
Africa, and bordered by Namibia, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the
Congo. President Jose Eduardo dos Santos’ ruling party, the People’s Movement
for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), holds a strong majority, having taken 72
percent at the August 2012 polls. The country has come a long way since its civil
war ended in 2002. In 12 years, Angola has managed to transform its war-torn
economy into the fifth biggest in Africa. This growth has been mainly fuelled by a
doubling of oil production, turning Angola into Sub-Saharan Africa’s second largest
oil producer after Nigeria. Rising oil revenues have allowed for large-scale state
investments, mainly in the construction and rehabilitation of public infrastructures
such as roads, schools, hospitals as well as housing, leading to a massive
construction boom and double digit GDP growth rates which reached 23.4
percent in 2007 up from 3.3 in 2003. Growth has in turn been enhanced by
economic reforms and prudent macro-economic policymaking.

Angola is an oil-rich nation located in southern Africa, on the
Atlantic coast of Africa, and bordered by Namibia, Zambia and the
Democratic Republic of the Congo. President Jose Eduardo dos
Santos’ ruling party, the People’s Movement for the Liberation of
Angola, won a further term at August 2012 elections, having taken
72% at the polls. The country has come a long way since its civil
war ended in 2002. In 11 years, Angola has managed to transform
its economy with a real GDP estimated at 7.2% in 2013 and 7.5%
in 2014 respectively. This is an impressive increase in real GDP
from

Angola is an oil-rich nation located in southern Africa. The country has come
a long way since its civil war ended in 2002. Angola has managed to transform
its economy with a real GDP growth rate of 4.06 percent in 2013 projected
to reach 7.9 percent in 2014, the fifth biggest in Africa. This is an impressive
increase from 3.5 percent in 2011, due to the rise in oil prices (oil production
was 1.69 million barrels a day in May 2014) and the growth of 7.7 percent of
other non-oil sectors. The growth in GDP is also attributed to the start of the
Angola Liquefied Natural Gas project that will cost US$9 billion.

Angola is an oil-rich nation located in southern Africa, on the Atlantic coast
of Africa, and bordered by Namibia, Zambia and the Democratic Republic
of the Congo. President Jose Eduardo dos Santos’ ruling party, the People’s
Movement for the Liberation of Angola, won a further term at the
elections in August 2012, having taken 72 percent at the polls. The country
has come a long way since its civil war ended in 2002. In 10 years Angola
has managed to transform its economy into a robust system, with real
GDP estimated at 8.2 percent and 7.1 percent in 2012 and 2013
respectively. This is an impressive increase in real GDP from 3.5 percent
in 2011, due to the rise in oil prices (oil production is expected to increase
to over two million barrels a day) and the growth of 7.7 percent of other
non-oil sectors. The growth in GDP is also attributed to the start of the
Angola Liquefied Natural Gas project that will cost US$9 billion. The
economy has a huge structural dependence on oil. Angola has high levels
of inflation. In December 2011 inflation was at 11.4 percent and increased
to 11.5 percent in January 2012. The government aims to bring down the
rate to 10 percent by the end of 2012. While the Angolan economy has
grown eight fold since the end of the war, reducing poverty has been much
slower

Emerging from a protracted civil war since 2002, Angola was for
several years one of the fastest growing economies in the world. In
the past decade, it has often seen double-digit rates of GDP growth.
The country also experienced a post-civil war reconstruction boom,
aided by the spending of oil revenues and a US$ 7 billion credit line
from China. Large credit lines have also been received from Brazil,
Portugal, Germany, Spain, Canada and the EU. That said, a shortage of
construction materials in the construction industry is proving a
significant hindrance to the process. The country is also faced by a
number of other prominent challenges. The economy has a huge
structural dependence on oil. However in 2009 and 2010, the
country experienced a decrease in oil revenues as a result of the
decline in oil prices that resulted in the drying up of liquidity, increased
interest rates and delays in payments on Government contracts. The
country is currently on a path of recovery and growing from an
estimated GDP growth rate of 3.4% in 2010 to a prospective rate of
7.5% in 2011. Angola suffers from considerable inflation pressures –
over 14 per cent in 2009. This is expected to decrease to 2011 to
11.7%.