Political events in Angola since February have been unraveling rapidly, not since independence from Portugal in 1975 have prospects for peace been more real than now. It took the death of the most prominent rebel leader in Africa to bring the current change of wind about, Unita's Jonas Savimbi died in battle in February. Until then no political arrangement without his involvement was possible or conceivable. Never satisfied with sharing power, Savimbi lived for the all and nothing, with no respect for the lives of the people he felt deserved to be ruled by him. Peace was ever elusive, sometimes seemingly real and at times only a heartbeat away. It now appears as if Savimbi's heartbeat was always in peace's way. The political events since February certainly do seem to substantiate such, a perhaps harsh suggestion, as the rest-UNITA, under new leadership has chosen to seek reconciliation and end 27 years of civil war, for three quarters of Angola's population this amount to no less than a lifetime of war.
Angola could and should be hold a far higher human development ranking that the position 146 (out of 162) it held in the 2001 UNDP Human development report. Presently, even position 146 overrates the social and economic conditions in Angola: only because of a relatively high GDP (1), mainly based on oil and diamond revenue, does the country appear better off than places like Chad, Niger or Burundi. The contradiction between Angola's development potential and the actual in-country conditions is truly tragic. The proceeds for oil and diamonds are so great that Angola's whole population could be living in relative comfort. Yet both warring sides have abused their access to the resources (oil for the Government, diamonds for UNITA), fueling their armies and the war, as well as increasing personal fortunes. Sadly, output per capita is among the world's lowest: the population of 13 million, a quarter of which are internally displaced, subsists on a meager US $240. (2)
For 85% of Angolans, subsistence agriculture provides the main livelihood. Yet oil production and the supporting activities are the basis of the economy, contributing about 45% to GDP. Angola is now clearly at a crossroads, its people are yearning for the long war years to be put behind and longing for peace, prosperity and progress. However, Oxfam points out that, "peace is one option, but the country could just as easily descend into fresh bloodshed if the right moves are not made now".
