Angola’s mislaid billions
Introduction and history
Angola is one of the larger African countries located in the southwestern part of the continent. The capital city is Luanda, and official language is Portuguese. According to United States Department of State website, “Despite its extensive oil and mineral reserves and arable land suitable for large-scale production of numerous crops, Angola has some of the world's lowest social development indicators” (Angola. Country Specific Information, 2012, para. #1). Due to these massive oil reserves, it seems that Angola should flourish and become one of the most developed African countries. Sadly, most of this country’s citizens seem to be living in extreme poverty. One can only try to guess why this would be the case. After being a colony of Portugal, Angola has gone through some rough times. Armed conflict did help with gaining the independence but right after the conflict was over, and independence achieved, civil war has taken over and slowed down any potential successes. “Development was severely restricted by a 27-year civil war that broke out upon independence in 1975 and destroyed most of the country's infrastructure. Since the war ended in 2002, the economy grew at a double-digit annual rate until the global financial crisis undercut oil revenue” (Angola. Country Specific Information, 2012, para. #1). This country has had a large potential due to its oil reserves. Because Angola exports most of its oil, it could benefit from oil prices that have been high in the most recent years. Despite of all this potential success, opposite is the case as Angola has been struggling with a major issue. Oil money has been disappearing from the country, and no one knows where and why. “Angola's government must account for a staggering $32 billion missing from state coffers in a country where most suffer immense poverty