Foreign Aid and Foreign Debt

Angola has grown significantly since the turn of the decade, largely due to their export of oil which constitutes more than 70% of government revenue. With Angola making these strides, they have also taken on a ton of debt each year. For instance, since 2010 Angola's external debt has increased by $29,725.17 million, from $17,828.63 million to $47,553.8 million [1].  The reason Angola is rapidly increasing debt is that they are using billions of dollars from China, Portugal, Spain, Germany and the EU to rebuild infrastructure that was destroyed during Angola's 27 year civil war that finally ended in 2002. This is part of the reason that they are in so much debt; they are rebuilding their economy based on credit[2]. On the plus side, lenders know that the money being invested into Angola is actually going to a good cause that contributes to economic development. Hopefully their infrastructure will be sustainable so that they can repay the countries that helped them. In terms of growth, Angola's GDP has increased since the end of the war, however in 2008 it took a large dip because of the global recession. Countries were worried about their own economies and had low confidence in lending, as a result, foreign aid to Angola was low during this period[2]. To make matters worse, oil prices saw a substantial decrease which affected Angola hugely, however they have since made a recovery and are doing well. Although Angola has seen an increase in GDP, there are concerns with certain components of the nation's HDI rating, most notably health. In recent years, many of U.S. bilateral assistance has been funded to support platforms that operate and manage basic health services[3]. For instance, 81% (10M) of Angola's requested foreign aid has been for health, while only the remaining 19%(2.4M) was for peace and security in 2018[3].










[1] "Angola Total External Debt," Trading Economics, Trading Economics, 2020. https://tradingeconomics.com/angola/external-debt

[2] "The World Fact Book: Angola," Central Intelligence Agency, Central Intelligence Agency 2020. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/ao.html

[3] "Angola Foreign Assistance," Foreign Assistance, Foreign Assistance. 2020. https://www.foreignassistance.gov/explore/country/Angola

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