New president shakes up old order
JOHANNESBURG — Angola’s new leader is making surprising moves to shake himself free of the legacy of one of Africa’s longest-serving presidents.
Joao Lourenco’s visit to South Africa on Thursday and Friday is giving the world a closer look at the man who stepped in after Jose Eduardo dos Santos ruled the oil-rich but largely impoverished nation for nearly 38 years.
Since winning election in August, Lourenco has taken steps to show that he is running a new government, even firing the daughter of dos Santos as chair of the powerful state-owned oil company.
When the ailing dos Santos stepped down, Lourenco, the former defense minister, was generally expected to conduct business as usual. But Lourenco, 63, quickly appointed a crop of new ministers to differentiate himself from dos Santos and replaced key security personnel.
In his most striking move so far, Lourenco this month removed the former president’s daughter, Isabel dos Santos, as chair of the national oil company, Sonangol. She is said to be Africa’s richest woman.
Lourenco’s steps to distance himself from his predecessor come even though both are longtime members of the ruling party, the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola that fought for independence from colonial ruler Portugal. Lourenco was the defense chief throughout much of Angola’s 27-year civil war that ended in 2002.
Dos Santos remains party leader with seemingly significant sway in how Angola is run. Lourenco’s major challenges include Angola’s 29 percent inflation and 26 percent unemployment.
“Joao Lourenco has been busy consolidating his power in Angola following the smooth transition of power from dos Santos,” Alex Vines, the head of the Africa program at Chatham House in London, said by email. The untroubled transfer of power gives Lourenco “additional authority” in tackling the economic issues, Vines said.
Angola, Africa’s second-largest oil producer and an OPEC member, has grappled for years to reduce its dependence on the oil production that accounts for almost all of its foreign exchange and trade, causing shocks when oil prices plummet.
Spurring trade to boost an economy still reeling from the 2014 crude oil price collapse will be the focus of Lourenco’s talks with South African President Jacob Zuma.
Lourenco is now implementing an ambitious six-month plan that includes consolidating taxes, limiting public debt, improving productivity and attracting foreign direct investment.
Lourenco’s decisions could lead to a more effective administration to benefit the southern African nation of 29 million, almost two-thirds of whom live in poverty on less than $2 a day.