Les Afriques talked with José Pedro de Morais, Angola’s Minister of Finance since 2002, who was recently praised by The Banker, a Financial Times publication.

José Pedro de Morais: “In the next few years, a new country shall emerge.” 

Interview conducted by Charles Bambara.

Les Afriques: You are the 2008 laureate of The Banker’s “Finance Minister of the Year” award. How do you feel about this?

José Pedro Morais: We have been through almost three decades of war but thanks to help from the international community and the English, we were able to restore peace. Since then, our priority has been to promote macro stability and growth.

LA: Today, Angola’s growth rate is over 20%. How do you explain this phenomenon?

JPM: Several factors explain this trend. Peace has enabled market integration internally. Before, people couldn’t move about freely within Angola’s borders. Today, things have changed. We were able to benefit from favourable circumstances for oil, our top export product and also put in place a number of policies intended to clean up our finances and stabilise the exchange rate. This made it possible for us to deploy our sharpest minds so that, in the last three years, growth in sectors unrelated to oil was greater than in that of oil. All of this has come about thanks to the massive investment programme that the government undertook to modernise infrastructure and also make the economy more competitive.

“Since 2003, our GDP has doubled every three years. This means that, on average, our GDP has been around 15 to 16%.” LA: Could you tell is exactly how many tonnes of oil have been produced and the figures that reflect this recent economic growth?

JPM: Since 2003, our GDP has doubled every three years. This means that, on average, our GDP has been around 15 to 16%. Of course, some years our growth was higher than 20%. In 2007, our income was around 30 billion dollars, which is double what we earned in 2004. As for oil production, by the second half of this year, we will be turning out 2 million barrels per day.

LA: That rivals Nigeria’s production rate, doesn’t it?

JPM: Yes, our production will surpass Nigeria’s because of the problems they have been having in the Niger Delta area. This sector will continue to grow and we expect that in the next five years, we will invest approximately 50 billion dollars.

LA: Minister, that would make Angola the top oil producer in Africa, wouldn’t it?

JPM: We are happy to now be a member of OPEC. If everything goes as planned, we will be the number one oil producer in Africa in a few years.

LA: Angola’s cost of living is quite high. As Minister of Finance, what are you doing to ensure that everyone benefits from the money generated by this recent oil boom?

JPM: There are structural obstacles to overcome. All Sub-Saharan African countries are facing the same problem. Unless we resolve these issues, we won’t lower our country’s cost of living. With our growth rate, the adjustment will occur on its own. The redistribution of the nation’s resources will be realised through investment in physical and social infrastructures that are beneficial to everyone. But that will take time.

LA: How much do these investments cost?

JPM: In 2007, our public investment budget was 11 billion dollars and this year it was 15 billion. Next year, we plan to invest 18 billion dollars.

LA: And this impacts all regions of Angola?

JPM: Yes, all regions of our country will benefit. Over 3,000 km of roadways are being built or repaired. We have launched a deepwater port project. Our port in Luanda is currently overrun. The average wait is 40 days! We are working on our airport network as well. In the next few years, a new country shall emerge.

Exergue Légende photo: José Pedro de Morais: “In the next few years, a new country shall emerge.”