Angola�s war economy: The role of oil and diamonds, edited by Jakkie Cilliers and Christian Dietrich. First published in South Africa in 2000 by the Institute for Security Studies, Pretoria, South Africa
The wars in Angola raged
for more than four decades,
at massive cost to
Angolans and other southern
Africans. It was not only a grave
yard for hundreds of thousands of people,
but also for repeated attempts at
bringing sustained peace and prosperity
to its people, despite lavish natural
resources.
These resources enabled the
major Angolan protagonists to resist
international pressure for an end
to armed conf lict. The Angolan
government used oil to finance the
war, while UNITA used diamond sales
for its massive military expenditures. It
didn�t help that Angola was also a handy
pawn in Cold War politics.
This is the backdrop for �Angola�s
war economy: The role of oil and
diamonds�, which boldly claims
to
be �possibly the most complete work
on the Angolan war economy to be
published in recent years�. That�s a little
optimistic. Tony Hodges has produced
an excellent study entitled �Angola
from Afro-Stalinism to Petro-Dollar
Capitalism�, which is probably more
focused and relevant.
Nonetheless, this book aims to
present a theoretical framework
for the political economy of the
Angolan abundant resource war
and an interpretative account of
the internal and regional dynamics
of the war, its global and arms dynamics
and ethnic roots.
Four of the sixteen chapters are
devoted to the diamond industry,
looking at commercial diamond mining
in Angola, porous borders and diamond
smuggling and the political sociology
of power struggles in the diamond rich
Lundas.
Part of the problem is that only half
the book really sticks to the topic. A
multidisciplinary approach is all very
well, but must retain relevance. Richard
Cornwell contributes an
excellent piece
on �The War for Independence�, which
traces the period between the arrival
of the Portuguese in 1492 and the
departure of the South African Defence
Force (SADF) in 1976 � but this does
not necessarily contribute to a deeper
understanding of resource wars.
It is also clear that the editors
compiled this book very much from
a UNITA perspective. In the section
entitled �Ethnicity and Conflict in
Angola�, Assis Malaquias argues that
Angola�s resource war is caused by
�the dominant politico-military forces�
reluctance to share power and wealth
within an inclusive multi-ethnic and
multi-racial political system�.
He says one of the major
consequences of this �ethnic-inspired
civil war� has been �the collapse of
government in Angola�, and talks
sweepingly of �unaccountable elites�.
There is no doubt that Angola�s
government guzzled, and continues
to guzzle, much of the country�s oil
revenues, but a more balanced viewpoint
would be more
convincing.
At least one other chapter, UNITA�s
�Support Structures� by Jakkie
Potgieter, loses credibility through a
seeming over-reliance on former SADF
propaganda mouthpieces and SADFapproved
war historians like Steenkamp
and Stiff.
Two chapters of the book focus
on the oil industry, providing an
overview of the industry and role of
oil in the war economy, while a third
investigates the ethical considerations
of multinationals doing business in
Angola. A separate chapter is devoted
to the role of humanitarian aid during
the war.
The book is almost worth its price
alone for the outstanding survey of
�The Political Economy of Resource
Wars� by Philippe Le Billon of the
Overseas Development Institute,
though.
For order information please contact:[email protected] or fax the ISS at
+27-12-346-9500
Market news on your cellphone
Get live JSE listed shares, warrants, major indices, brent crude oil, international markets, agricultural futures & daily market analysis via SMS on your mobile.
Find out more...
Energy in
Africa
Energy in Africa is an intelligent and in-depth look at how energy impacts people, places, projects, price and development around the African continent. Subscribe now...
African Business Leaders Forum
African business and public sector leaders define and construct a prosperous future for the continent. Find out more...
Online travel bookings
Planning to travel? Book accommodation in Africa & South Africa here. Book now...
