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Article: Middle East & Africa: Angola - Oil Price Fires Interest In A Former Basket Case - A Burgeoning Oil Economy And The Government's Commitment To Combat Corruption Is Attracting Foreign Bankers Once More To Post-war Angola, Writes Steven Swindells.
- Article from:
- The Banker
- Article date:
- October 1, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 FT Business. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The conventional view of Angola's banking sector, until recently, has been that it is for those with a stomach for high risk-taking and not for the faint-hearted. While the ruling Movimiento Popular de Libertacao de Angola (MPLA) government fought a civil war against the Uniao Nacional para a Independencia Total de Angola (Unita) rebel movement, banking became almost a law unto itself, as billions of dollars from the country's oil exports were concealed in a maze of channels and accounts.
Allegations of corruption and political interference diminished the reputation of the country's banking system in the eyes of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the ...