How João Lourenço is cleaning up Angola
Angola’s new president is ridding state institutions of cronies linked to the Dos Santos family, but his second challenge — to rescue the country’s oil-dependent economy — will be a tougher task
Since being sworn in as Angola’s president just seven months ago João Lourenço has become known among Angolans as "The Terminator" for his fight against rampant corruption. The 64-year-old former army general faces a daunting task. Corruption became institutionalised under his predecessor, José Eduardo dos Santos, who ruled Africa’s second-largest oil producer with an iron fist for 38 years. The magnitude of the challenge facing Lourenço is clear: Berlin-based Amnesty International ranks Angola as the world’s 14th-most corrupt country out of 180 in its 2017 corruption perceptions index. On a scale where 0 is totally corrupt and 100 is totally incorrupt, Angola scored 19. To the surprise of sceptics, who thought Lourenço would be a puppet of the Dos Santos family, he set to work swiftly to clean up corruption. His first big target was the former president’s daughter, Isabel dos Santos, whom he summarily dismissed as head of state oil company Sonangol in November, together with all bo...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.