Political Influence and Patronage in the �New Angola�

The
new government in Angola has made transparency and economic reform its much
vaunted manifesto, which is buying it good will among international investors
and is boosting its popularity at home. However, central tenets of control over
the country’s political economy remain firmly entrenched with the same elite
that has dominated Angola for generations.

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LONDON,
United Kingdom - EQS - September 26, 2018 – EXX Africa published a special report on the
political influence and patronage in
Angola.

 

To receive the full report, please send an
email to: marie@apo-opa.org

 

At
the centre of the new political patronage structure stands former vice
president Manuel Vicente, who has
returned to the heart of political power in Angola and who through his family
and close associates maintains an extraordinary
position of influence over the economy.

 

Vicente
was once part of the all-powerful ‘Triumvirate’
that dominated Angola’s business sphere. Through a network of investments and
commercial holdings, Vicente is still one of the wealthiest and most
influential powerbrokers in the country. Even though he was politically
sidelined towards the end of the previous administration, he retains commercial
interests across key sectors such as banking, telecoms, energy, and logistics.

 

Over
the past year, Vicente has regained much
control over the state oil company Sonangol, as well as the central bank
and finance ministry, where his political allies have been appointed into
leadership positions. His family is also creating new commercial ties with the
family of the new president, João
Lourenço, while his closest business associates are benefitting from recent
contract allocations. By bringing Vicente back into a position of political
influence and shielding him from various international corruption investigations, President João Lourenço has found a
powerful ally in his campaign to consolidate his own authority and to prosecute
members of the former president’s family.

 

However,
the restoration of Manuel Vicente carries significant
political, reputational, and transparency risks that are likely to
undermine the government’s popular manifesto of probity and economic
liberalisation. This report identifies a number of recent deals and local
source intelligence that highlight the prevalence of such risks. This report
attempts to uncover the opaque network of overlapping commercial interests that
once again threatens to capture Angola’s economy and to concentrate the
country’s substantial wealth within the hands of a small political and business
elite.

 

For
any further comment or a full copy of the report, please contact https://www.exxafrica.com/

Distributed by APO
Group on behalf of EXXAfrica.