Lisbon, Nov. 11, 2025 (Lusa) - Former Economy Minister António Costa Silva told Lusa that Angola needs "ethical and institutional reform" to "regain the trust of the Angolan people" after decades of corruption in the country.
Born in Angola, Costa Silva is launching the book "Angola aos Despedaços - 50 anos depois que futuro?" at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, in Lisbon, on Tuesday, in which he evokes the dreams and aspirations of Angolans, makes a negative assessment of the last 50 years, analysing the causes of failure, and points the way to the future, outlining a Strategy for the Development of the country.
"This book doesn't shy away from analysing anything and here we have a big elephant in the room that is never discussed, which is the problem of corruption in Angola [and which] must be tackled," he said in an interview with the Lusa news agency.
That's why, for Costa Silva, "ethical and institutional reform" is essential.
'I cite in the book the very interesting study that the Centre for Studies and Scientific Research that the Catholic University of Angola carried out, directed by one of Angola's most notable economists, Professor Manuel Alves da Rocha, and between 2002 and 2015 they identified that the Angolan state collected around $840 billion from oil revenues, royalties and company taxes, an astronomical amount of money - that's three times Portugal's GDP,' he said.
The authors of the study found that, although the Angolan authorities told them that this money had essentially been earmarked for infrastructure investment, in fact only $110 billion had been used for this purpose, he emphasised.
"In other words, $730 billion disappeared. This money disappeared to feed the political elite linked to the regime and (...) it wasn't even invested in the country. [It was used for megalomaniac personal projects and ostentation, and that makes absolutely no sense. Imagine what Angola would be today if these $730 billion had been used correctly to diversify the economy, to invest in education, and to invest in health. We'd have a completely different country," he emphasised.
Recalling that when he took office in 2017, Angolan President João Lourenço "chose the fight against corruption as one of the major objectives of his mandate", the former minister emphasised that "the progress made is very timid and the results scarce".
"I am convinced that if this ethical and institutional reform is not carried out in Angola, Angolan politicians will not regain the trust of the Angolan people. There is a lot of distrust in Angola today, a lot of discredit (...). No society can function without a minimum of trust. The best way to regain it is through a relentless fight against corruption," he said.
António Costa Silva, who was among the crowd on the night of 11 November 1975 in Luanda when Agostinho Neto proclaimed Angola's independence, recalled this "extraordinarily important moment".
"We mustn't forget that the colonial regime was a regime of oppression of the Angolan people and therefore liberation was fundamental to boost the country's development," he emphasised.
However, 50 years on, Angola has “around 11.6 million people living in extreme poverty” and, according to international indicators, “a very high multidimensional poverty rate”, close to 60%, he emphasised.
"So we have 20 million people who don't have the minimum conditions to survive. We have an informal economy that covers 80% of people, in other words, it accounts for around 40% of GDP. It's impressive that, after 50 years, only 2.5 million Angolans have formal jobs with bank accounts and access to credit, leaving out the vast majority of the population".
Costa Silva dedicates the Guerra & Paz book "Angola aos Despedaços - 50 anos depois que futuro?" to the Angolan people, "who were harshly oppressed by the Portuguese colonial regime and who have not seen their lives improve in 50 years of independence".
"The future can and must be different, but we have to find the way," he points out, urging Angolan political parties to put the national interest at the centre of their concerns and reach pacts in three areas that are "transformative for the future": education, health and the diversification of the economy, which until now has been "completely anchored in oil".
"If they don't do this, they'll be heavily penalised and we mustn't forget that a very young country has a high potential for protest if young people's aspirations aren't met," he warned.
With a degree in Mining Engineering, António Costa Silva, who was a member of the Amílcar Cabral Committees and the Communist Organisation of Angola, was imprisoned for almost three years in the São Paulo prison in Luanda, where the MPLA's political police tortured him. He had an international career in the oil sector, having been invited by the then prime minister António Costa to prepare a Strategic Vision for the post-Covid Economic Recovery Plan and then to take up the post of Minister for the Economy and Maritime Affairs.
MLL/ADB // ADB.
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