Angola to join extractive industries transparency group

Angola plans to join the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, an international effort to fight corruption in revenues from oil, gas and mineral extraction.

Foreign affairs minister Tete Antonio announced the move on Twitter late on Friday and said Angola “has clearly demonstrated its commitment to promote the open and accountable management of its natural resources for the benefit of its people”.

The initiative, formed in 2003, has more than 50 implementing countries.

Angola’s President Joao Lourenco has embarked on an anti-corruption drive since taking power from Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who stepped down in 2017 after a near four-decade rule.

Earlier in August, a court in Luanda sentenced dos Santos’s son to five years in prison over a $500m (R8.3bn) corruption case.

Africa’s second-largest oil exporter is also working to stem a steady decline in oil output due to a lack of investment. — Reuters