Headline July 7th, 2012 / ''The World's Richest Poor Country''

"The World's Richest Poor Country"

Angola is an extraordinarily rich country, populated mainly by poor people for all of whom, life simply and plainly consists of eking out a miserable existence, working on construction sites, if you are lucky, or hawking anything you can find. Life expectancy is 42. Yes, 42. Angola has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world. 

Three quarters of the population earn less than dollar a day--the UN Definition of absolute poverty. Some 64% of the people have no access to clean water; over 32% of children under 14 are forced to work. Child Labour in its purest form. In one gracious sweep, you will find, in the heart of the city stands Roque Santerio, renowned as the largest market on the African continent!! 

The potholes seem to get bigger, the stench stronger, as you clover leaf a approach. The condongueiros, blue and white Toyota minibuses always packed to overflowing sardines, vie with container trucks on their way down the hill, each throwing up red dust as they scrape past each other. And, and the market is built on a rubbish tip overlooking the container harbour, and it is said that you can find anything here. 

During the civil war, as the folklore goes, you could find a rocket grenade launcher or a human head. In peacetime, it is reliably learnt that there is still no shortage of guns, or drugs to be found, alongside the more prosaic car tyres, electronic goods and all manners of fake labels displayed on the street. 

So were you to get philosophic and begin to contrast the glam and the being with the squalor of the shanties, your first instinct is to conclude rightly that Angola provides a typically very very depressing example of Sub Saharan Africa. So many countries have been blighted by this horrid curse of oil, by these multinational companies ripping off a pound of flesh -and paying off- right under these huge God forsaken tables, local governments, then repatriating all the wealth, and leaving the people worse off than before, that you urgently assume why Angola could be any different. 

This all is right up to 2009. But in many ways this is a different, different story, at least this is what the representative of the World Bank wants you to think. So allow yourself a large doze of caution! 

You surely may have seen conspicuous consumption in London, Moscow, Paris and New York, but never in a contrast such as in Angola. For Angola is one of the most bizarre nations on earth, where the money is flowing in faster than anyone can spend it, and yet where the vast majority of people are struggling just to keep body and soul together!! 

With many thanks to !WOW! Join up morrow as we take you forward on this amazing read.

Good Night & God bless!

SAM Daily Times - The Voice Of The Voiceless