Angola: Conflict and development, 1962-2002

Authors

  • Manuel Ennes Ferreira

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15355/epsj.1.1.25

Abstract

Can a country achieve its development goals or, at least, its economic growth goals when it faces forty years of war? Angola's case serves as a paradigmatic example to answer this question. From 1961 to 1974, Angolans opposed Portuguese colonial rule by violent, revolutionary struggle. But from 1975 (Angola's independence year) to April 2002 (the date of the last cease-fire), a civil war pitted the ruling MPLA party against the main rebel group, UNITA. Macroeconomic performance differed across these two time-periods. The article explores the influence of internal and external economic and political conditions on Angola's development, under circumstances of war, and speculates on Angola's immediate future. The article argues, in particular, that Angola's elites have used the civil war as an excuse behind which to hide atrocious economic policy.

References

Bender, G.J. 1978. Angola under the Portuguese: Myth and Reality. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

Cilliers, J. and C. Dietrich, eds., 2000. Angola’s War Economy. Pretoria: South African Institute for Security Studies.

Ferreira, M. E. 1990. Angola-Portugal: do Espaço Económico Português às Relações Pós-Coloniais. Lisbon: Escher.

Ferreira, M. E. 1999. Angola: A Indústria em Tempo de Guerra, 1975-1991. Lisbon: Cosmos/IDN.

Ferreira, M. E. 2002. “Angola: Civil War and the Manufacturing Industry, 1975-1999,” pp. 251-274 in J. Brauer and J.P. Dunne, eds. Arming the South: The Economics of Military Expenditure, Arms Production, and Arms Trade in Developing Countries. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave.

Hodges, T. 2001. Angola: From Afro-Stalinism to Petro-Diamond Capitalism. London: James Currey and Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Le Billon, P. 2001. “Angola’s Political Economy of War: The Role of Oil and Diamonds, 1975-2000.” African Affairs. Vol. 100, No. 398, pp. 55-80.

Tvedten, I. 1997. Angola: Struggle for Peace and Reconstruction. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

World Bank. 1991. Angola: An Introductory Review. Washington, DC: The World Bank.

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Published

2006-01-01

How to Cite

Ferreira, M. E. (2006). Angola: Conflict and development, 1962-2002. The Economics of Peace and Security Journal, 1(1). https://doi.org/10.15355/epsj.1.1.25

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Section

Articles