HE worst has passed and now we have to look ahead,” reflects Angolan Minister of Assistance and Social Reintegration, Joao Baptista Kussumua.

Few countries have experienced as sustained and violent a conflict as Angola. The country’s independence on November 11, 1975, was preceded by a 14-year struggle against Portuguese colonization. At independence, Angola became embroiled in one of the deadliest civil wars of the Cold War era. The conflict between the forces of the Popular Liberation Movement of Angola (MPLA) and the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (UNITA) would last 27 long years.

On April 4, 2002, six weeks after the death of longtime UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi, his insurgent group and the MPLA government signed a cease-fire. With this, Angola entered a new era and the country was finally in a position to exploit the tremendous potential of its natural wealth.

A year and a half later, prospects for continued peace are solid; UNITA has disintegrated as a national fighting force and works in tandem with the MPLA government as the leading opposition party. Reconstruction of the country has now become the national priority.

It won’t be easy. It will take a long time and consistent effort to erase the social and economic legacies of a war that killed a million people and uprooted a third of the population.

President José Eduardo dos Santos is implementing a national plan for economic and political stability

Much of the country’s infrastructure was destroyed, non-oil sectors of the economy were ravaged, and poverty became widespread. Although progress has been made in the last year, President José Eduardo dos Santos still faces a long road ahead.

As Minister Kussumua states, “I think it would be humanly impossible to organize a country that has been at war for 30 years in one year. We are facing a difficult situation, which is the reconstruction, rehabilitation, and development of the country, as well as the reintegration of four million people.”

In the past year, in addition to demobilizing ex-combatants and resettling 1.8 million displaced Angolans, President dos Santos and his administration have implemented a national plan for addressing the nation’s other pressing concerns.

Minister of Planning Ana Dias Lourenço elaborates, “The government’s 2003/2004 program defines its strategic goals as peace and national reconciliation, political and economic stability, the fight against poverty, and the arrangements for the next elections.”

Deputy Prime Minister Aguinaldo Jaime says that the government task of reconstruction is complicated by the accompanying need for economic stability.
“We face contradicting challenges,” he explains. “On the one hand, we have to stabilize the economy and bring the deficit and inflation down, but at the same time, we have to rebuild the country; to rebuild infrastructure and increase the level of health and education.”

As the government is aware that it cannot face this challenge alone, it is counting on the participation of the international community and the private sector, and plans for partnerships between the private and public sectors have been established.
“In the next ten years Angola has the capacity to become a completely different country, but we need to unite hands between the government, civil society, the private sector, and international partners. We have the capacity to do it – there is political will, strong partnerships, and material and financial resources,” Minister Dias Lourenço adds.

U.S. Ambassador to Angola Christopher Dell agrees that Angolans are up to the task ahead of them and believes President dos Santos’ administration deserves credit for having maintained national unity throughout the difficult past few years.

“Something we need to recognize is that Angola has had a terrible time and has been subjected to pressures. It is a huge achievement and one that needs to be recognized, that they have succeeded in maintaining the regime despite all that,” he states. “Angola is doing a lot of the things it needs to do.”