As Oxford’s Ricardo Soares de Oliveira also discussed in a recent blog post, not all is well with Angola’s oil-reliant economy. After petroleum prices started to drop last year, the country’s remarkable economic growth over the last few years came to an almost standstill. Macroeconomic improvements, applauded by the International Monetary Fund and others alike, are rapidly proving inadequate. As Angola celebrated its 40 years of independence this month, there are serious doubts being raised about the viability of its oil-led development model. Deepening dependency Oil has been produced in Angola since the 1960s. Back then, however, the prosperous Portuguese colony also boasted other economic assets. Coffee production was the fourth biggest in the world and a fishery industry was already well established. …