Friday, March 29, 2024

The best of what is yet to come

Ricardo David Lopes, Consultant

When, shortly after taking office as President of Angola, João Lourenço appeared on social media portrayed in good-natured memes as the “Relentless Exonerator”, following the real tsunami of resignations of public officials he started in his first weeks in office, not even the most creative would have imagined the silent revolution that was about to appear on the horizon.

It obviously easy, now that more than half of the mandate of this retired general at the Cidade Alta Palace has elapsed, to find flaws and errors in some aspects of his administration or in the results yet to be achieved, in changes yet to take place, resignations to be signed or “accounts” to be settled. It is not difficult to point out insufficiencies and flaws, to notice how much could have already been done, or how much is yet to be done, in a country where poverty and problems unfortunately still abound.

It is comfortable to be a “stands president” and to notice more easily what went wrong, the more or less easy to spot contradictions, the casting errors, and to say that if we were the coach, the referee or the player, everything would be different – for the best. Better and further.

But, after more than three years in this (very) different Angola, it is also easy, if we want, to look back and take note of what has changed for the better – and which will eventually bear juicy fruits in the future. And the examples are many and inspiring. They don’t cover what is bad, nor what is to make good. But they give courage, hope and a new breath, feelings that, at the start of each year, act as anchors of our desire for things to be better.

The fight against corruption and impunity is a “sign” that is here to stay. Did it leave many out? Certainly, but no one can guarantee that, further ahead, there will be no new results. There will be – just in all countries committed to this crusade.

What is certain is that things that were unthinkable until (very) few years ago did happen. In the field of economics and finance, the list is almost endless: competition has become part of the lexicon of companies and people. And, although this is not a goal that is achieved by decree, the work has started and the effects will be there.

Privatizations, so often promised, but never carried out in a scrutinized, organized and transparent manner are underway and they will ultimately create a different country – more than just different companies. From telecommunications to agriculture, from transport to tourism, from logistics to industry, from banking to insurance, from energy to infrastructure, nothing will stay the same.

Companies such as ENSA, TAAG, Sonangol, Angola Telecom, among many others, or banks like BPC or BCI, which are in the minds of independent Angola, unfortunately almost always on a negative note, are being the target of real internal revolutions and will come out stronger from all the changes (in some cases, painful) that are underway.

Also as regards foreign exchange, one of the most sensitive areas, changes have been many and in the right direction – from liberalization to sales transparency. In a context of scarcity of foreign exchange, aggravated in the meantime by the Covid-19 pandemic – which has hit hard the economies, and Angola naturally also –, this is a key issue.

The financial system, despite many difficulties that remain, partly inherited from a past where ethics was not in everyone’s mind, is now more robust and less “frowned upon”.

Investing is easier now, because the law that allows the country to attract capital, especially foreign, has been changed accordingly. Red tape has been reduced. Courts and Justice, which are so important for a good business climate, are far from being “on the right stand”, but the road is clear and unavoidable, even if it is a long one.

There is no longer promiscuity between Sonangol, that holds the concession for the country’s oil reserves and extracts oil because the other (the same company, after all) grants it that right. And we now know – we have the right to know and that is recognized – where the money from the Sovereign Fund is.

There are still dozens or hundreds of companies the state owes money to, but much less – and the sum is lower – than a year or two ago.

The country’s debt has grown, like that of almost everyone, but the bill is being negotiated, reduced, and there is an accounting effort to channel more funds to social expenses than to security and defence.

There is a huge and heavy public machinery, but there are fewer ministries and more rationalization, and its weight will be reduced. There is more moralization in the way taxpayers’ money is spent: those who do what they shouldn’t, pay for it, sooner or later.

There is an effort to increase national production, with tools that are there to foster this.

We may refute the policies of the Government and the President. He opened the doors of the Palace to annual meetings with journalists and created a Council where he listens and allow members of civil society to have their say, including some who criticize his policies.

At the beginning of this year, I chose to focus on the good things that have been happening in Angola. I haven’t forgotten the bad ones – I also know how to be a “stands president”. I didn’t even decide to lighten them up. In fact, we must think every day about the bad, in order not to forget – or allow them to be forgotten – that things have to get better.

Do you want to bet that, in a year, many will be much better?

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