Oil and Uranium - Blessing Or Curse?
Uranium - Blessing Or Curse?
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
10 October 2007, Dakar
As the global demand for nuclear energy rises, analysts say the large amount of uranium in Niger is not a benefit to the country's people but adds to the serious problems facing the region.
Niger, an impoverished country on the southern fringe of the Sahara desert, has one of the world's largest reserves of uranium, the main source of nuclear fuel - but virtually nothing to show for it. Instead, say local and international organisations, uranium mining by foreign-dominated companies has caused environmental damage and health problems in the far north of the country. The mining operations are also causing domestic political tensions: one of the main demands of an armed militia that has been fighting Niger's army since February, the Niger Movement for Justice (MNJ), is a more equitable distribution of the revenues from uranium mining. "The fact that [the uranium] is there is more negative than positive at the moment," said Jeremy Keenan, fellow at the University of Bristol in the UK, and a recognised authority on the Sahara. "It's a curse on the region and the people of the region... It is potentially a very volatile situation."
Few benefits
Civil society organisations in Niger and academics in the USA and UK agree that the people of Niger have not benefited from the 100,000 tonnes of uranium extracted $over the past 36 years. Niger is the world's third to fifth-ranking producer of uranium, producing over 3,000 tonnes of uranium a year. However, the UN Development Programme's 2006 Human Development Index considers Niger the poorest country in the world, where life expectancy is 45 years old, 71 percent of adults cannot read, and 60 percent of the population lives on less than $1 a day. The Nigerien people aren't benefiting from the revenues," said Ali Idrissa, coordinator of the Niger branch of Publish What You Pay, a worldwide coalition of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) calling on oil, gas and mining companies to disclose their payments to governments for the extraction of natural resources.
The government of Niger's share of the uranium revenue is small: foreign companies have a majority stake in the two uranium production companies, SOMAIR and COMINAK, which are operated and mostly owned by Areva, a French multinational company and global mining giant. In July, the government renegotiated the price of its uranium, increasing the per kilogramme royalty to 40,000 CFA francs (US$86) for 2007. Still, under the terms of a decades-old agreement, the two production companies are only required to pay 5.5 percent of revenues to the government. In 2006, that totalled just 10 billion CFA francs (US$22 million), according to the Ministry of Mining and Energy.
Robert Charlick, professor at Cleveland State University and author on Niger, said uranium revenue nonetheless means the government does not need to depend as heavily on taxes, and thus needs less public support, especially from the vast majority of the country's isolated, rural population. "It destroyed the prospect of a political system that would be more attentive to rural interests," Charlick told IRIN. The mining industry has led to some development, he said, but in ways that benefit uranium production and not the average Nigerien. A road was built through the mining town of Tahoua to Arlit for the transport of uranium, and coal mining was developed to run the uranium facilities. "Those areas have electricity but few other rural areas in the country do," he said.
Health, environmental concerns
Resentment is also growing among the thousands of mine workers and people living near the mining sites in the northern region of Agadez, who complain about unsafe working conditions and exposure to radioactive poisoning in the community. In August a movement of civil society organisations reportedly demanded that the Areva pay 300 billion CFA francs (US$647 million) in damages for years of exploration in "unfair and iniquitous conditions".
A 2005 investigation by Sherpa, an international network of lawyers who promote corporate social responsibility, found that workers in Niger's uranium mines were not informed of health risks; were not given the most basic protection measures; and were not always treated if they developed lung cancer. Long-term inhalation exposure to radon, a gas formed by the breakdown of uranium, has been linked to the onset of lung cancer.
Another French NGO, CRIIRAD, found that water, soil and metal scrap from the area where Niger's two mines are exploited were contaminated with dangerously high radioactivity levels. According to Mamane Sani Adamou of the civil society organisation Alternative Espaces Citoyens, uranium extraction has significantly damaged the environment, reducing forests and pastures.
Further investigation to scientifically validate claims of contamination and ill-health has been blocked by the multinational company, the University of Bristol's Keenan said. Areva has consistently denied the allegations, and has attributed the high number of illnesses to the harsh desert climate. In a written statement sent in reply to IRIN questions, Areva said it regularly conducts external audits dealing with health, environment and safety, including an audit by the French Institute for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Hygiene (IRSN) which found the company to be operating within international standards. Areva has also said it will open a health centre around its sites. "The accusations of negligence and lack of transparency brought against [Areva] are in total contradiction with the real facts," the document said.
Potential source of conflict
As the general competition over resources in Africa increases - independent Washington-based researcher Daniel Volman calls it a "global competition between the US and China for access to energy supplies" – some analysts fear that uranium in Niger could also become a source of tension. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the overall world demand for energy will increase by at least 50 percent in the next 25 years and will have to be met mostly by non-fossil fuels, particularly nuclear energy.
"The US and everyone else with a developing or industrialised economy is going to be looking to Africa as a source of uranium," said Volman, who has been studying US policy towards Africa and its energy supplies. "That's already beginning to happen and it's only going to expand and increase." Niger is home to Africa's biggest uranium reserves, which had been dominated by Areva for years. The government is now trying to diversify its partners and has distributed more than 100 exploration permits to Canadian, US, Chinese, Indian and other companies in the last year alone. "You've got this sort of desperation going on from many countries around the world to get their hands on uranium," said University of Bristol's Keenan, adding: "The world is looking at progressively more and more resource-based conflicts."
Uranium wars?
Historically, instability in the Sahel region has been due to factors other than resource exploitation. But in Niger, uranium is part of a potentially volatile mixture of factors, including the US war on terror, the rebellion in the north and the government's policy of non-negotiation with the rebels. Independent researcher Volman warned that the presence of natural resources leads foreign governments to provide military and financial support to resource-rich countries in order to ensure maintained access to those resources. The US is already providing military training to Nigerien officers, he said, and Niger has participated in other military equipment programs offered by the US in the past.
Volman said increased militarization leads governments to become more aggressive towards their own citizens and their neighbours. "It encourages internal repression. It also encourages countries to invade their neighbours," he said. "It encourages those countries to resort to force both to solve their problems and to take advantage of opportunities – one of those being to invade neighbouring countries and loot them." “It's hard to point to an example in Africa where [the existence of resources] hasn't been a complete curse," Volman added. "I would expect [Niger] to reproduce the same kind of cycle we've seen in other places, because it's already following the same trajectory."
Since February, the MNJ rebel group has been attacking military outposts and some foreign mining companies, killing at least 45 soldiers and kidnapping one Chinese uranium worker before releasing him unharmed. In July the MNJ advised all foreign nationals working in the mining of natural resources to leave conflict zones "for their own safety". Still, some say projections of violent conflict over uranium are exaggerated. "I really don't expect us tosee uranium wars," said Cleveland State University's Charlick. "It will be an increasing economic issue... [but] I don't expect that that will come to a battle." When asked if the existence of uranium could lead to a regional war, Publish What You Pay's Idrissa said: "With the interest in uranium that certain powers have, everything is to be feared."
[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations ]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/oil/story/0,,2137542,00.html
Ghana enters oil age with wary eye on neighbours
Find could bring wealth, but some fear petrodollars may hinder economic recovery
Xan Rice in Axim
Monday July 30, 2007
The Guardian
For years the question has puzzled Ghanaians: surely, in a region awash with oil, their country had some black gold of its own? Last month they got their answer. Ghana does have oil, and lots of it.
Tullow Oil, a UK-listed company, announced in June it had found up to 600m barrels of oil in the deep waters off Cape Three Point. If the results are proven - exploration companies believe the estimates may be conservative - Ghana will join the swelling ranks of African oil producers, netting billions of pounds over the next decade or two.The news was greeted as if heaven-sent. In the capital, the Accra Daily Mail ran the headline: Thank God. Oil at last. Thank God!Church groups announced a national prayer day to give thanks. In a radio interview, President John Kufuor said petrodollars would turn his country, already regarded as the success story of west Africa, into an "African Tiger"."With oil as a shot in the arm, we're going to fly," he said.
But as the euphoria dies down, people are debating whether oil is really the economic injection their country needs. After all, the other countries along the Gulf of Guinea that have discovered significant deposits - from Angola to Equatorial Guinea and the Democratic Republic of the Congo - have sunk rather than flown. And Ghanaians need only travel a few hundred miles east to discover why oil is considered a curse in Africa rather than a godsend. "Nigeria has oil in abundance, yet the local people have nothing," said George Moore, a 29-year-old restaurant worker in Axim, a fishing village near Cape Three Point. "Is that what is going to happen here?"
Others say Ghana's economy, which relies mainly on gold, timber, cocoa and a budding IT sector, is already doing well without the easy money that oil will provide. Since the near collapse of the economy in the 1980s, economic growth in Ghana has averaged about 5%, climbing to 6% in each of the past three years. Poverty levels have dropped from 52% in 1990 to 29% today, according to the World Bank, making Ghana one of the few African countries on track for the main Millennium Development Goal of halving poverty by 2015. Compare that to Gabon, which has been pumping hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil a day for more than 30 years and where two-thirds of the population still lives on less than a dollar a day.
"Our country works, but the idea of us producing oil still scares me," said Kofi Bentil, a business lecturer at Ashesi University in Accra. "It will totally change the structure of the economy. It could push us into overdrive, but it could also lead us to self-destruct."
One advantage that Ghana has over its oil-producing neighbours, said Mr Bentil, is experience and political stability. While countries such as Nigeria were already swimming in oil money at independence, Ghana has had 50 years to build up institutions to manage its finances.It is also one of the few countries in the region to hold free and fair elections with peaceful transitions of power.Although corruption at state level remains significant, accountability has improved greatly in recent years, donor officials say.
Mats Karlsson, the World Bank country director for Ghana, said that even without oil, Ghana was on track to become a middle-income country by 2015, when it would start to wean itself off aid. Oil revenues could accelerate that process."We have all seen how natural resources can ruin good performance in African countries," he said. "But there is reason to believe that Ghana will make the right decisions." From riches to rags, to riches again
In 1957, when Ghana became the first former British colony to achieve independence in Africa, it had one of the continent's strongest economies. Within a decade however, the country had accumulated foreign debts of $1bn (£493m), and the economic slide was well under way. Political turmoil and a massive drop in both the price and production of cocoa - of which it is the world's second largest producer - saw the decline continue until the 1980s.
After a 1981 coup, the country's fourth in 15 years, Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings instituted a far-reaching economic recovery programme. Although the political instability and violence continued, the market-oriented plan worked, and Ghana has had enjoyed growth ever since. Under President John Kufuor, who beat Rawlings' handpicked successor in a peaceful 2000 election and won re-election four years later, there have been further economic reforms qualifying the country for massive debt relief. Many analysts now view Ghana as one of Africa's brightest prospects.
Ghana enters oil age with wary eye on neighbours
Find could bring wealth, but some fear petrodollars may hinder economic recovery
Xan Rice in Axim
Monday July 30, 2007
The Guardian
For years the question has puzzled Ghanaians: surely, in a region awash with oil, their country had some black gold of its own? Last month they got their answer. Ghana does have oil, and lots of it.
Tullow Oil, a UK-listed company, announced in June it had found up to 600m barrels of oil in the deep waters off Cape Three Point. If the results are proven - exploration companies believe the estimates may be conservative - Ghana will join the swelling ranks of African oil producers, netting billions of pounds over the next decade or two.The news was greeted as if heaven-sent. In the capital, the Accra Daily Mail ran the headline: Thank God. Oil at last. Thank God!Church groups announced a national prayer day to give thanks. In a radio interview, President John Kufuor said petrodollars would turn his country, already regarded as the success story of west Africa, into an "African Tiger"."With oil as a shot in the arm, we're going to fly," he said.
But as the euphoria dies down, people are debating whether oil is really the economic injection their country needs. After all, the other countries along the Gulf of Guinea that have discovered significant deposits - from Angola to Equatorial Guinea and the Democratic Republic of the Congo - have sunk rather than flown. And Ghanaians need only travel a few hundred miles east to discover why oil is considered a curse in Africa rather than a godsend. "Nigeria has oil in abundance, yet the local people have nothing," said George Moore, a 29-year-old restaurant worker in Axim, a fishing village near Cape Three Point. "Is that what is going to happen here?"
Others say Ghana's economy, which relies mainly on gold, timber, cocoa and a budding IT sector, is already doing well without the easy money that oil will provide. Since the near collapse of the economy in the 1980s, economic growth in Ghana has averaged about 5%, climbing to 6% in each of the past three years. Poverty levels have dropped from 52% in 1990 to 29% today, according to the World Bank, making Ghana one of the few African countries on track for the main Millennium Development Goal of halving poverty by 2015. Compare that to Gabon, which has been pumping hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil a day for more than 30 years and where two-thirds of the population still lives on less than a dollar a day.
"Our country works, but the idea of us producing oil still scares me," said Kofi Bentil, a business lecturer at Ashesi University in Accra. "It will totally change the structure of the economy. It could push us into overdrive, but it could also lead us to self-destruct."
One advantage that Ghana has over its oil-producing neighbours, said Mr Bentil, is experience and political stability. While countries such as Nigeria were already swimming in oil money at independence, Ghana has had 50 years to build up institutions to manage its finances.It is also one of the few countries in the region to hold free and fair elections with peaceful transitions of power.Although corruption at state level remains significant, accountability has improved greatly in recent years, donor officials say.
Mats Karlsson, the World Bank country director for Ghana, said that even without oil, Ghana was on track to become a middle-income country by 2015, when it would start to wean itself off aid. Oil revenues could accelerate that process."We have all seen how natural resources can ruin good performance in African countries," he said. "But there is reason to believe that Ghana will make the right decisions." From riches to rags, to riches again
In 1957, when Ghana became the first former British colony to achieve independence in Africa, it had one of the continent's strongest economies. Within a decade however, the country had accumulated foreign debts of $1bn (£493m), and the economic slide was well under way. Political turmoil and a massive drop in both the price and production of cocoa - of which it is the world's second largest producer - saw the decline continue until the 1980s.
After a 1981 coup, the country's fourth in 15 years, Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings instituted a far-reaching economic recovery programme. Although the political instability and violence continued, the market-oriented plan worked, and Ghana has had enjoyed growth ever since. Under President John Kufuor, who beat Rawlings' handpicked successor in a peaceful 2000 election and won re-election four years later, there have been further economic reforms qualifying the country for massive debt relief. Many analysts now view Ghana as one of Africa's brightest prospects.
http://www.emergingminds.org/magazine/content/item/5046/catid/1
Angola's Oil Boom Moves Country up on the Pan-African Agenda
07/30/07
Activists considering Angola as next location to spread Pan-Africanism
Atlanta (emergingminds.org) - Angola is a country in south-central Africa bordering Namibia to the south, Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, and Zambia to the east, and the Atlantic Ocean on the west At 481,321 mi² (1,246,700 km²), Angola is five times the size of the United Kingdom, yet only has a population of roughly12 million compared to a population of nearly 61 million in the UK. The country’s economy has undergone significant transformation in recent years, moving from the disarray caused by over 25 years of war to being the fastest growing economy in Africa and one of the fastest in the world. According to the International Monetary Fund, Angola’s economy is forecast to grow by more than a whopping 31 percent in 2007.
Angola's high growth rate is driven by its oil sector, with record oil prices and rising petroleum production. Oil production and its supporting activities contribute about half of GDP and 90% of exports. Increased oil production supported 12% growth in 2004, 19% growth in 2005, and nearly 14% growth in 2006. Oil production surpassed 1.4 million barrels per day in late-2005 and is expected to grow to 2 million barrels per day by the end of this year. Subsequently, Angola was admitted as a member of OPEC in December 2006. Control of the oil industry is consolidated in Sonangol Group, a conglomerate which is owned by the Angolan government; however multi-national companies including Total and BP have a fast growing presence in the country.
According to Reuters, Angola’s tourism minister said that businessmen are “building dozens of hotels and guesthouses to meet rising demand that has pushed the price of a room in the capital Luanda to $250 per night.” In addition Reuters reports that Angolan officials are expecting nearly 39 new hotels of different categories to open in Angola over the next two years, representing an investment of around $500 million.
Although the above data gives Pan-Africanist reason to be optimistic about prospects in Angola, critics complain that the country is headed down a familiar path of foreign exploitation and government corruption. Ben Ofosu-Appiah, a policy strategist who writes extensively on political, social, and economic issues concerning the Pan-African community recently had some very harsh words for the Angolan government. In a recent report by Ofosu-Appiah entitled “The Black Gold (Oil) Discovery in Ghana: It’s Promise and It’s Perils” Ofosu-Appiah stated:
"The end of Angola’s long running civil war in 2002 enabled its oil industry to take off in full swing with its first explosive gush of production and inflow of cash. Angolan GDP is expected to grow by 27% this year (2007) while oil production is expected to grow about 25% per year. Today Angola is awash with cash but controlled by a few political elites and oil oligarchs. A number of resort island beaches have been developed, where yachts, power boats and jet skis are always on daily display. Since 2002 businessmen have been flying into Luanda offering huge sums of money in return to access to oil. China has offered over $5 billion in interest free loans to Angola.
"Oil Revenues in Angola in 2005 amounted to over S10 billion and that number is expected to soar until production peaks in 2011. This is the first gusher of wealth in a country that has never known it but the gains are not being evenly distributed nor being invested in productive ventures. The Capital, Luanda, has huge shopping malls where silver plated ash trays sell for as much as $7000. Yet 70% of Angolans still live below the poverty line. Cholera and malaria are abundant and child mortality rates are among the worst in the world."
Nevertheless, because of the economic boom in Angola, Pan-Africanist still expect this emerging high-profile country to be added to a short list of crucial international fronts on the Pan-African agenda.Experts predict that top items of concern will include China’s $2 billion line of credit to Angola, strengthening indigenous spiritual systems and languages, and of course economic parity for the masses as well as to reduce multi-national corporate influence of government policy.
Angola's Oil Boom Moves Country up on the Pan-African Agenda
07/30/07
Activists considering Angola as next location to spread Pan-Africanism
Atlanta (emergingminds.org) - Angola is a country in south-central Africa bordering Namibia to the south, Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, and Zambia to the east, and the Atlantic Ocean on the west At 481,321 mi² (1,246,700 km²), Angola is five times the size of the United Kingdom, yet only has a population of roughly12 million compared to a population of nearly 61 million in the UK. The country’s economy has undergone significant transformation in recent years, moving from the disarray caused by over 25 years of war to being the fastest growing economy in Africa and one of the fastest in the world. According to the International Monetary Fund, Angola’s economy is forecast to grow by more than a whopping 31 percent in 2007.
Angola's high growth rate is driven by its oil sector, with record oil prices and rising petroleum production. Oil production and its supporting activities contribute about half of GDP and 90% of exports. Increased oil production supported 12% growth in 2004, 19% growth in 2005, and nearly 14% growth in 2006. Oil production surpassed 1.4 million barrels per day in late-2005 and is expected to grow to 2 million barrels per day by the end of this year. Subsequently, Angola was admitted as a member of OPEC in December 2006. Control of the oil industry is consolidated in Sonangol Group, a conglomerate which is owned by the Angolan government; however multi-national companies including Total and BP have a fast growing presence in the country.
According to Reuters, Angola’s tourism minister said that businessmen are “building dozens of hotels and guesthouses to meet rising demand that has pushed the price of a room in the capital Luanda to $250 per night.” In addition Reuters reports that Angolan officials are expecting nearly 39 new hotels of different categories to open in Angola over the next two years, representing an investment of around $500 million.
Although the above data gives Pan-Africanist reason to be optimistic about prospects in Angola, critics complain that the country is headed down a familiar path of foreign exploitation and government corruption. Ben Ofosu-Appiah, a policy strategist who writes extensively on political, social, and economic issues concerning the Pan-African community recently had some very harsh words for the Angolan government. In a recent report by Ofosu-Appiah entitled “The Black Gold (Oil) Discovery in Ghana: It’s Promise and It’s Perils” Ofosu-Appiah stated:
"The end of Angola’s long running civil war in 2002 enabled its oil industry to take off in full swing with its first explosive gush of production and inflow of cash. Angolan GDP is expected to grow by 27% this year (2007) while oil production is expected to grow about 25% per year. Today Angola is awash with cash but controlled by a few political elites and oil oligarchs. A number of resort island beaches have been developed, where yachts, power boats and jet skis are always on daily display. Since 2002 businessmen have been flying into Luanda offering huge sums of money in return to access to oil. China has offered over $5 billion in interest free loans to Angola.
"Oil Revenues in Angola in 2005 amounted to over S10 billion and that number is expected to soar until production peaks in 2011. This is the first gusher of wealth in a country that has never known it but the gains are not being evenly distributed nor being invested in productive ventures. The Capital, Luanda, has huge shopping malls where silver plated ash trays sell for as much as $7000. Yet 70% of Angolans still live below the poverty line. Cholera and malaria are abundant and child mortality rates are among the worst in the world."
Nevertheless, because of the economic boom in Angola, Pan-Africanist still expect this emerging high-profile country to be added to a short list of crucial international fronts on the Pan-African agenda.Experts predict that top items of concern will include China’s $2 billion line of credit to Angola, strengthening indigenous spiritual systems and languages, and of course economic parity for the masses as well as to reduce multi-national corporate influence of government policy.
http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2007/julio/lun2/25Angola.html
ANGOLA: Future powerhouse of the African continent
• Dr. Boaventura Cardoso, that country’s minister of culture, visited Havana for the 5th International Culture and Development Congress • The African leader spoke with Granma International about his country’s reality and projections for the future
BY NAVIL GARCIA ALFONSO — Granma International staff writer —
"THE Angola of today is very different from the one that Cubans came to know 30 years ago," Culture Minister Boaventura Cardoso said. "We are in the midst of a process of rebuilding our society and the economic infrastructure that could make our country into one of the powerhouses of the African continent."
Angola is the No. 2 oil producer in the region, with one million barrels daily, which account for 90% of its exports. According to the website of the Angolan government’s embassy in Washington, it is expected that oil production will rise to 2.3 million barrels daily next year, making the country the No. 1 oil producer in Africa, instead of current leader Nigeria.
"My country is very rich in natural resources," Cardoso noted. "Along with large oil reserves, we have minerals such as diamonds, gold, iron, phosphate, marble, granite and quartz. In addition, the vast territory that comprises our nation is very fertile, and rainfall patterns favor the development of agriculture."
Why is development being talked about now and not when independence was declared?
"Because the country attained peace just five years ago after almost 30 years of a civil war that cost us many lives and destroyed our economic and cultural heritage. It is only now that we are able to project our future as an independent and organized nation. "The simple fact that we are able to travel from one side of the country to the other completely safely is a sign that we are living in a nation at peace. The government and the Angolan Liberation Movement (MPLA) – the ruling party – are determined to take advantage of this situation of social harmony and fulfill our plans for modernization. "Many of our compatriots who left the country and went elsewhere in Africa or even to the former colonizer, Portugal, during the civil war, are returning, and that is what we want to happen: we want to build a new Angola with the help of everyone. "One of our main goals is to bring development to the country’s interior, and for that, we are building roads, aqueducts and other networks of communications and energy, although we still have much to do. "The consolidation of a national industry capable of utilizing our full potential in natural resources is also a government priority."
Your country is also showing progress in the areas of education and culture.
"Certainly, great efforts are being made to educate our people. We need to have highly-qualified technicians and specialists participate in development. Cuba has helped us greatly in that aspect, in having educated thousands of young Angolans in the most diverse scientific fields. Some of them are now part of the government.
"Several European countries have also played an important role in the continuing education of our professionals. "In the interim, we are continuing to increase our educational capacity, with the creation of schools and the recovery of our identity.
"Angolan culture is African, and thus is very rich in every manifestation: dance, art, song, literature. The work we are doing to safeguard our material and immaterial patrimony shows that culture should be on a par with economic development. "Last year, we held our third symposium on national culture, in which we had important discussions on the Angolan identity. Based on that, we drew some conclusions that will be included in the country’s
future cultural legislation.
"We are also planning the consolidation of our cultural industries, such as publishing, recording and filmmaking. Our arts and most importantly, our indigenous languages, are elements of our identity that we must protect and consolidate."
You referred to relations between Cuba and Angola in relation to educational cooperation. What do you think of these bilateral relations?
"We have always had good relations. Angola does not forget about the help Cuba gave us in achieving independence, and all of the other actions it took later, such as education for young people, the reconstruction of bridges, agricultural development, and in the medical field. "A number of Angolan students are soon to arrive in Cuba to study at the Higher Institute of Arts. And a group of Cuban doctors are soon to head for Angola to provide support for my country’s health care.
"One element that could help to strengthen and expand cooperation would be the return of direct flights between Havana and Luanda, which for many years after our independence facilitated such exchange. "Angola is a country that has great plans for the future. I believe that with well-founded policies for economic and social development, we will be able to attain a high level of social well-being for our people and to hold an outstanding place in the region," he concluded.
ANGOLA: Future powerhouse of the African continent
• Dr. Boaventura Cardoso, that country’s minister of culture, visited Havana for the 5th International Culture and Development Congress • The African leader spoke with Granma International about his country’s reality and projections for the future
BY NAVIL GARCIA ALFONSO — Granma International staff writer —
"THE Angola of today is very different from the one that Cubans came to know 30 years ago," Culture Minister Boaventura Cardoso said. "We are in the midst of a process of rebuilding our society and the economic infrastructure that could make our country into one of the powerhouses of the African continent."
Angola is the No. 2 oil producer in the region, with one million barrels daily, which account for 90% of its exports. According to the website of the Angolan government’s embassy in Washington, it is expected that oil production will rise to 2.3 million barrels daily next year, making the country the No. 1 oil producer in Africa, instead of current leader Nigeria.
"My country is very rich in natural resources," Cardoso noted. "Along with large oil reserves, we have minerals such as diamonds, gold, iron, phosphate, marble, granite and quartz. In addition, the vast territory that comprises our nation is very fertile, and rainfall patterns favor the development of agriculture."
Why is development being talked about now and not when independence was declared?
"Because the country attained peace just five years ago after almost 30 years of a civil war that cost us many lives and destroyed our economic and cultural heritage. It is only now that we are able to project our future as an independent and organized nation. "The simple fact that we are able to travel from one side of the country to the other completely safely is a sign that we are living in a nation at peace. The government and the Angolan Liberation Movement (MPLA) – the ruling party – are determined to take advantage of this situation of social harmony and fulfill our plans for modernization. "Many of our compatriots who left the country and went elsewhere in Africa or even to the former colonizer, Portugal, during the civil war, are returning, and that is what we want to happen: we want to build a new Angola with the help of everyone. "One of our main goals is to bring development to the country’s interior, and for that, we are building roads, aqueducts and other networks of communications and energy, although we still have much to do. "The consolidation of a national industry capable of utilizing our full potential in natural resources is also a government priority."
Your country is also showing progress in the areas of education and culture.
"Certainly, great efforts are being made to educate our people. We need to have highly-qualified technicians and specialists participate in development. Cuba has helped us greatly in that aspect, in having educated thousands of young Angolans in the most diverse scientific fields. Some of them are now part of the government.
"Several European countries have also played an important role in the continuing education of our professionals. "In the interim, we are continuing to increase our educational capacity, with the creation of schools and the recovery of our identity.
"Angolan culture is African, and thus is very rich in every manifestation: dance, art, song, literature. The work we are doing to safeguard our material and immaterial patrimony shows that culture should be on a par with economic development. "Last year, we held our third symposium on national culture, in which we had important discussions on the Angolan identity. Based on that, we drew some conclusions that will be included in the country’s
future cultural legislation.
"We are also planning the consolidation of our cultural industries, such as publishing, recording and filmmaking. Our arts and most importantly, our indigenous languages, are elements of our identity that we must protect and consolidate."
You referred to relations between Cuba and Angola in relation to educational cooperation. What do you think of these bilateral relations?
"We have always had good relations. Angola does not forget about the help Cuba gave us in achieving independence, and all of the other actions it took later, such as education for young people, the reconstruction of bridges, agricultural development, and in the medical field. "A number of Angolan students are soon to arrive in Cuba to study at the Higher Institute of Arts. And a group of Cuban doctors are soon to head for Angola to provide support for my country’s health care.
"One element that could help to strengthen and expand cooperation would be the return of direct flights between Havana and Luanda, which for many years after our independence facilitated such exchange. "Angola is a country that has great plans for the future. I believe that with well-founded policies for economic and social development, we will be able to attain a high level of social well-being for our people and to hold an outstanding place in the region," he concluded.
Publicité