Democracy and Governance in Angola
The Development Challenge: Just two years after emerging from over a quarter century of civil war, Angola in FY 2004 continued its transition toward national reconciliation begun in earnest in 2002. Demobilization has been largely accomplished, while progress toward reintegration and reconstruction has been slowed by socioeconomic and political stresses that reflect the fragility of the post-war state. Further progress toward reintegration and reconstruction is required to consolidate early gains of the transition and shift national focus from emergency response toward comprehensive development. To that end, during 2005, the United States will work with the Government of Angola and other partners to further enhance agricultural production and food security in targeted communities, promote informed participatory relations between government and civil society, build local capacity for economic analysis and business expansion, and improve maternal and child health while reducing the transmission of HIV/AIDS.
Indicators for Angola underscore the scale of the development challenge. The country ranks 166th of 177 countries on the 2004 UNDP Human Development Index. National population exceeds 13 million, with 48% under age 15 and an annual population growth rate of 3%. The literacy rate among adults over age 15 is 42%, while roughly half of primary school age children are not enrolled in school. The average fertility rate is 7.2 births per woman, while average life expectancy is 40 years. Infant and child mortality rates are among the highest in the world (250 deaths per 1,000 under five years), and 41% of all children under five are chronically malnourished. Malaria, diarrhea, and other preventable diseases such as measles are common in both urban and rural areas. Poor health conditions are exacerbated by lack of access to safe water and health services; only 38% of the population has access to a protected water source, and just 2.6% of all communities have a health center. Restricted movement during the war years helped stem the spread of HIV/AIDS, and today Angola has an estimated prevalence rate of 3.4%. However, freedom of movement in the post-conflict period, combined with other socio-economic and demographic factors--including higher infection rates where Angolan military forces are stationed--sets the stage for a spike in the national HIV/AIDS rate.
Angola's low level of human development is at odds with its potential for economic prosperity--evident in the country's wealth of natural resources, including oil, diamonds, fertile arable land (much yet to be tilled), substantial fisheries, and plentiful water available for crops and hydropower. The economy, heavily dependent on trade, is dominated by the oil sector, which should account for two-thirds of government revenue in 2005. Developments in the oil sector will determine Angola's growth for the foreseeable future. Real GDP growth is predicted to reach 11.6% in 2005, due principally to large increases in oil production. However, overall economic performance remains below potential due to limited linkages between productive sectors (notably oil) and the rest of the economy, deplorable infrastructure, weak economic policy and management, and pervasive corruption. Angola's tumultuous history has contributed to the development of a weak culture of accountability and fiscal discipline. Average annual inflation, forecast to fall to 30% in 2005 from 44% in 2004, contributes to macroeconomic instability that is further fed by a large fiscal deficit, a misaligned exchange rate, underinvestment by the government in social sectors, and vast unrecorded expenditures in a shadow economy. To address these fiscal and monetary issues, the Government will need to implement a series of economic, fiscal, and budgetary policy reforms.
Systemic flaws in state institutions and the nascent condition of political parties and civil society organizations stymie the country's establishment of democratic governance. Such constraints contribute to repeated delays in national elections, with legislative elections now expected in 2006 and the presidential election (last held in 1992) in 2007. Constitutional reform, essential to election plans, continues to stimulate public debate, but has been slowed by disputes over procedures, timing, and content. Despite efforts to promote laws governing land and property, current reforms have failed to address the needs of large segments of the population, although the economic interests of powerful elites continue to be protected. Angola continues to exhibit a disjointed social order, limited effectiveness of civil and commercial law, and a persistent gap between formal rules of the state and de facto "rules of the game" exploited by power holders, all of which erode democratic principles of governance and contribute to a national budget that fails to reflect the country's true wealth.
U.S. national interests in Angola are commercial, political, and humanitarian. Angola, sub-Saharan Africa's second largest oil producer, is the seventh largest supplier of crude oil to the United States, and eighth in terms of total petroleum imports, providing 4%-5% of total U.S. petroleum imports. As of 2004, Angola is eligible to benefit from more open access to U.S. markets under the African Growth and Opportunity Act. As a potential powerhouse for regional trade and investment, the country could play an important role in Southern Africa's regional stability. In a region wracked by HIV/AIDS, addressing the epidemic before infection rates explode in Angola is a critical development challenge.
The USAID Program: USAID is requesting FY 2005 and FY 2006 funds for four objectives. These four objectives address issues of food security, democratic governance, improved maternal/child health, and economic reform. The food security objective, focused on smallholder agriculture, promotes access to inputs, extension services and training; market linkages; and revitalized agricultural productivity in Angola. The democracy objective strengthens constituencies and institutions required for democratic governance by promoting civil society coalitions, an independent media, government transparency and accountability, and the groundwork for free and fair elections. The health objective aims to improve maternal and child health and prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases by helping communities and institutions to provide necessary health services and to conduct HIV/AIDS prevention programs. The economic reform objective fosters economic policy and financial sector reform, business development services, and credit access for micro-, small, and medium enterprises. USAID works with a number of international and local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in public-private partnerships.
(Excerpted from the 2006 Congressional Budget Justification for Angola)
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