Angola is often cited as a classic example of the resource curse. Immense oil and
diamond resources have fuelled conflict,
environmental destruction, and high-level corruption. Global Witness is now campaigning
to ensure that Angola’s natural wealth is used to its maximum to fund development, and not to line the
pockets of the wealthy elite.
The civil war in Angola spanned over 40 years and claimed
the lives of at least 500,000 people, leaving thousands more maimed by
landmines which still litter its landscape. Global Witness’s landmark report, A Rough Trade, revealed how the rebel
group UNITA, was using the sale of diamonds to fund its increasingly brutal war
effort, thrusting ‘blood diamonds’ into the global spotlight for the first
time. This report helped kick-start a global conversation about the steps
governments, diamond companies, and consumers should take to create a more
transparent and accountable diamond industry, from which the Kimberley Process
was eventually born.
Meanwhile, corruption in Angola’s oil industry played a
major role in prolonging the conflict, as documented in Global Witness’s 1999
report, A Crude Awakening. Sadly, very
little has changed since the conflict ended in 2001. Angola’s oil industry
remains shrouded in mystery, while questions remain as to whether revenues are still being siphoned off from the public purse for personal gain. In 2014, Global
Witness raised questions about payments of $350m from BP and Houston-based
Cobalt to Angola’s state oil company, to fund a research centre that is nowhere
to be seen.
Internationally, Global Witness’s work in Angola has
inspired a great deal of legislative change. Our diamond work has contributed
to a global movement towards companies carrying out checks on their supply
chains to mitigate the risk of funding violence. In the extractive industries, ground
breaking efforts like the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI)
and Publish What You Pay movement have grown
out of the problems seen in countries like Angola, and brought laws in the EU and
UK which will force companies to disclose the payments they make to overseas
governments.
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