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Misanet / Angola Peace Monitor / afrol News, 6 March - Ever since UNITA were brought back to the negotiating table following the death of Jonas Savimbi, there have been promises of an international donors' conference where commitments would be made towards reconstructing Angola's war shattered economy and infrastructure. However, the promises have never been met, with no firm date set for the donor conference, which will be held in Brussels. The UN had begun to speak about a March conference, but is now talking vaguely about holding it in the first half of 2003. It is not known what amount of money is needed to begin to rebuild the country. However, in September 1995 donors met in Brussels under the auspices of the United Nations Development Programme, UNDP, and promised over a billion dollars for reconstruction - none of which materialised. Over seven years down the line the economy has worsened, and roads and bridges have deteriorated further. In his report to the UN Security Council on 7 February (S/2003/158), the Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, wrote that "with a virtually non-existent infrastructure in the provinces and an overall economy devastated by, among other factors, more than three decades of war, Angola's recovery, reconstruction and long-term development needs remain formidable. The United Nations is expected to assist with major gap-bridging initiatives in order to enable the transition of the country from relief dependency to development and self-reliance". He continued that "during my meeting with the G-8 States in Kananaskis, Canada, from 27 to 28 June 2002, I identified Angola as one of three countries in Africa most in need of post-conflict and peace-building assistance. The international donors' conference for Angola, which is scheduled for the first part of 2003, should provide an opportunity for the international community to channel its assistance to the country". However, he continued by stating that "the Angolan Government is aware that it needs to exert more effort in order to allay donors' concerns and to reach understanding with the Bretton Woods institutions. In preparation for that conference, an option under consideration is to convene a meeting with the donors beforehand, which would allow the Government to brief them on its efforts to promote transparency and accountability and on its own financial contributions to the emergency and transitional phases". A major block to international aid to Angola beyond the bare minimum is the inability of the Angolan government to reach agreement with the International Monetary Fund. One of the key issues of concern to donors is the lack of transparency and the various irreconcilable sets of statistics that have led organisations such as Global Witness to accuse very senior Angolan figures of stealing a billion dollars of oil revenue each year. Angola also needs to reach agreement with the IMF in order to restructure its huge debt. Much of the country's debt is guaranteed by oil revenues, so a high proportion of the state's revenues never reach the country, despite high crude oil prices.
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