Independent Expert encourages Angola to build economic diversification through fiscal legitimacy and raised living standards

LUANDA -- Angola has achieved relative political stability following a 27-year civil war that ended in 2002, but the country continues to grapple with socio-economic fragility exacerbated by issues including illicit financial flows and corruption, significantly impacting national revenue, an independent expert said today.

“Angola’s dependency on its oil sector has left the economy vulnerable to external shocks, leading to challenges in macroeconomic stability and limited economic diversification. Greater diversification remains crucial for sustainable economic growth,” said Attiya Waris, Independent Expert on the Effects of foreign debt and human rights, following an official visit to Angola.

Sharing her preliminary conclusions at the end of her visit , Waris acknowledged efforts over the past five years focusing on formalising systems, enhancing macroeconomic management and improving governance in the public sector.

She said Angola continues to grapple with significant inequalities and challenging living conditions with a considerable portion of the population living on less than USD 1 per day. Waris was concerned about living conditions in informal settlements, including numerous health and social problems, a lack of food, clean water, sanitation, and electricity.

“Past revenue losses have hindered investments in social sectors, contributing to inadequate infrastructure, low-quality education, and poor health outcomes, leading to one of the lowest Human Capital Index scores in the world (0.36 in 2020). More than 25% of households have school-aged children not enrolled in school, indicating a high risk of intergenerational poverty,” Waris said.

The expert examined challenges faced by Angola in the collection and use of financial resources for raising its population’s standard of living with a focus on children. She highlighted key principles that should be taken into consideration in ensuring that financial decisions uphold and maintain standards of living: transparency, accountability, responsibility, efficiency and effectiveness in a context of fairness and justice with a focus on human rights.

“A State must ensure its expenditure reflects the needs of its residents particularly of children. The principle of justice requires rebalancing to allocate more funding to a birth registry for all children, free education including free school-books and education materials, and hospitals and clinics well-stocked with medicines, as well as to ensure that all homes in Angola have electricity and access to clean water and sanitation,” she said.

Waris said that the state should disclose accurate, timely, and comprehensive information relating to its budgets, expenditure, debt, and general financial situation to its citizens. Fiscal decisions should be deliberate towards progressive realisation of human rights with a focus on children. Social policies should be designed to address and reverse the effects of economic downturns.

She encouraged Angola to continue its engagement with other states in their efforts to assist in the repatriation of its assets illegally stowed in foreign jurisdictions and urged the international community and other international stakeholders to support these efforts.

The expert will present her report to the Human Rights Council in March 2025.