Category: AngolaNorway

Este estudo teve lugar no contexto do programa de pesquisa noruegueês – angolano “Melhorar o Ambiente de Investigação em Angola através de Desenvolvimento de Capacidades 2019–2024.

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The study took place within the context of the Norwegian – Angolan research programme “Enhancing the Research Environment in Angola through Capacity Develpment 2019-2024”.

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The programme, coordinated by Scanteam in a consortium with Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI – Bergen), is financed by the Norwegian Embassy in Luanda, and has a total budget of 37.5 million NOK for a duration of four years.

The main purpose of the programme is to increase high quality science-based and independent research that can enhance the factual basis and understanding underlying public decision-making, media reporting and public discourse on current and future economic and socio-political issues in Angola.

The following Angolan institutions are so far involved:

• Universidade Católica de Angola (UCAN), with the following reserasch centres:
  • Centro de Estudos e Investigação Cientifica (CEIC),
  • Centro de Estudos Africanos (CEA),
  • Laboratório de Ciências Sociais e Humanidades (LAB)
• Centro de Estudos e Pesquisa (CEsP) at The Instituto Superior Politécnico JeanPiaget, located in Benguela
• Centro de Investigação Social e Económica (CISE), the research unit of the Faculty of Economics (FECUAN) at the University of Agostinho Neto (UAN)

The team

Contents

• Economic Research on Extractive Industries
• Local Governance and Autarquias
• Accountability
• Information as a Driver of Change
• Benguela-based Research
• Cross-cutting research
  • Gender mainstreaming of the project portfolio
  • Administrative Capacity Development
  • Umbrella project

Economic Research on Extractive Industries

Synopsis

This project and its subcomponents will explore the following questions:

• How have the ongoing restructuring and changing external expectations affected the CSR levels and practices of oil companies and large oil service firms world-wide and in Angola?
• What are the local impacts of the production of diamonds on the livelihood of people living around the mines?
• What has been accomplished so far in terms of non-oil sector tax collection both in nominal and real terms?
• Has the tax base been broadened?
• Will the implementation of VAT increase the value of the non-oil sector tax collection?

Implementing institutions

• CMI
• CEIC

Lead responsibility

• Arne Wiig, CMI
• Manuel Rocha, CEIC

Local Governance and Autarquias

Synopsis

This part of the programme aims to accompany and observe the Angolan local governance reform, with a focus on the promised establishment of autarquias – locally constituted municipal governments. The project will analyse and debate its institutional environment in-making, local finances and the political battle over local power. Studying the reform process from several angles will make it uniquely placed to provide unparalleled breadth of insight: From above, from below, through international comparison and with a gender-lens.

Implementing institutions

• CEA
• CMI
• Scanteam
• CeSP

Lead responsibility

• Aslak Orre, CMI
• Nelson Pestana, CEA

Accountability

Synopsis

Socio-economic development in Angola has suffered from a lack of checks and balances to the former president dos Santos’ excessive power.  The project will study institutions like the parliament, election commission, auditor general, the courts and actors like civil society groups and youth organizations to see if there have been any changes in their ability to hold the government accountable.

Implementing institutions

• CMI
• LAB
• Scanteam

Lead responsibility

• Inge Amundsen, CMI
• Cesaltina Abreu, LAB
• Catarina Gomes, LAB

Information as a Driver of Change

Synopsis

The objective of this project is to develop research capacity on economic research of relevance for Angola. It will assess the importance of transparency about information about oil revenue as a driver of change in public sentiment and research the types and sources of information that are important for accountability in Angola.

Under the supervision of CMI and CISE, Master and PhD students will be included in the research to explore how different experimental economics methodoogies such as impact evaluations and ramdomised control trials can be used to analyse the Angolan experience and derive policy recommendations.

Implementing institutions

• CMI
• CISE

Lead responsibility

• Arne Wiig, CMI
• Fernandes Wanda, CISE

Benguela-based Research

Synopsis

Building on projects two and three, acitivities within this project will also explore themes such as local governance dynamics and accountability, but with a specific focus on the Benguela province. It is designed to strengthen inter-institutional research collaboration within the Benguela province and build networks between Benguela and Luanda-based institutions.

Implementing institutions

• CeSP Benguela
• Scanteam

Lead responsibility

• Torun Reite, Scanteam

Cross-Cutting Research

The analysis drawn from the below listed projects are designed to be useful to the programme as a whole The research conducted will apply to each core module

Gender mainstreaming of the project portfolio

Synopsis

This cross cutting theme will engage actively with Norwegian equality and non-discrimination perspectives, and adopt an approach to integrate a gendered perspective into institutional development, the broader outreach and dissemination activities and, as far as possible, in the perspectives of the research projects. From the institutional development through to the research activities, sex-disaggregated performance targets and output data are included in monitoring and reporting for the programme.

Implementing institutions

• Scanteam
• CeSP
• CEA
• Piaget

Lead responsbility

• Angolan Gender Coordinator: Flora Telo, CeSP
• Norwegian Gender Coordinator: Torun Reite, Scanteam

Administrative Capacity Development

Synopsis

The organisational, administrative, financial capacity development will be a demand-driven process, with the clear objective of enabling the universities/research centres to reach a level of documentable competencies that make them interesting partners for international research projects in the future.

Most of the formal capacity development will take place during annual workshops where all the participating institutions will take part. These workshops will be a mix of problem identification, experience sharing, lessons learned and formal training on specific topics that are of most use to the institutions involved.

Implementing institutions

• Scanteam
• Research institutes in Angola

Lead responsbility

• Arne Disch, Scanteam
• Vibeke Skauerud, Scanteam

Umbrella project

Synopsis

This module will monitor and publically disseminate activities originating in each project, through publication of OpEds, media interviews or smaller events for instance in cooperation with NGOs. Research and analysis from this module will monitor the possible political-economic transformations in post dos Santos Angola during the four-year duration of the programme and extract novel insights from the programme at large.

Implementing institutions

• All

Lead responsibility

• Vegard Bye, Scanteam

This page will be updated with content from each webinar including recordings of the discussion and presentation materials. To join the conversation about the topics, visit our facebook page, by clicking here.

• 11 March 2021, 14:00 – 16:30 CET: Angola – from economic boom to a post-petroleum economy
• 25 March 2021, 14:00 – 16:30 CET: Angola – from dos Santos to Lourenço
• 15 April 2021, 14:00 – 16:30 CET: Angola in a changing world
• 29 April 2021,14:00 – 16:30 CET: Towards a more transparent society?
• 6 May 2021 14:00 – 16:00 CET: Summing up: Is a real transformation of power relations underway in Angola?

This page will be updated with content from each webinar shortly after its completion.

The full proposed program with proposed speakers and text in Portugese can be downloaded below.

Webinar three: Angola in a changing world

• Date: Thursday 15 April
• Time: 14:00 – 16:30 CET
• Location: Zoom

Session 1 – Angola and the main global powers (China, Russia, US, EU)

Presenters

• Mathias de Alencastro, CEBRAP / Brazil 

Mathias Alencastro is a postdoctoral fellow at the São Paulo Research Foundation (Fapesp). His work focuses on Brazil-Africa relations and the politics of private companies in the extractive sector. He served as a senior advisor at the Brazilian
presidency (2015-2016). He is currently working on a new plan for Brazil-Africa relations on behalf of a presidential candidate in the 2022 elections. He holds a PhD in Politics from the University of Oxford.

• Dr. Assis Malaquias, California State University / Maritime Academy

Dr. Assis Malaquias is Full Professor and Chair of the Department of Global Studies and Maritime Affairs at the California State University (Maritime). He is also Associate at the Corbett Center for Maritime Policy Studies, King’s College, University of London. He has an extensive and distinguished career in academia and public service. Prior to joining Cal Maritime, he served as Overseas Maritime Security Advisor in the Africa Bureau, U.S. Department of State. He also served as the Academic Chair for Defense Economics at the U.S. National Defense University’s Africa Center for Strategic Studies. Professor Malaquias’ previous appointments include: Associate Dean of International and Intercultural Studies and Professor of Government at St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York; Extraordinary Associate Professor of Political Studies at the University of Western Cape; and a visiting Professor at Stellenbosch University. He holds a B.A. (Honors) in Political Science from the University of Winnipeg, a Master’s degree in Economics and a Ph.D. in Political Science both from Dalhousie University. His areas of specialization include International Relations, Strategy, International Security, and Maritime Security.

Session 2 – Angola as a sub-regional power in Africa

Presenters

• Paula Roque, Oxford University

Paula Cristina Roque has been an independent analyst on Angola for two decades. She has worked for the Crisis Management Initiative established by President Martti Ahtisaari; the South Sudan Centre for Strategic and Policy
Studies, Juba; the International Crisis Group, as senior analyst for Southern Africa; the Institute for Security Studies as Horn of Africa Senior Researcher; and China in Africa Research Coordinator at SAIIA. Roque has published extensively on Angola and frequently briefs the media, governments, and think tanks on her countries of expertise. She has a DPhil from the University of Oxford and a MSc from the London School of Economics. Her book Governing in the Shadows – Angola’s securitized state, published by Hurst, will be out in August 2021

Discussant

• Claudia Gastrow, University of Johannesburg

Webinar four: Towards a more transparent society?

• Date: Thursday 29 April
• Time: 14:00 – 16:30 CET
• Location: Zoom
• Moderator: Ricardo Soares de Oliveira

Session 1: Luanda Leaks and beyond: How deep does the fight against the corruption culture really go?

Presenters:

• Karina Carvalho, Executive Director of Transparency International Portugal

• Luzia Sebastião, Former judge of the Constitutional Court

Session 2: Will political de-centralization ever take place in Angola?

Presenters:

• Hitler Samussuku, Movimento Jovens pelas Autarquías (MJPA) 

• Paulo Faria, Ambuila: Pesquisa e Produção Cientifica