Angola is a major exporter of diamonds and coffee, the main cash crop grown in the area. Further, Angola’s oil market accounts for more than one-third of the gross domestic product. In addition, Angola is the highest exporter of diamonds in Africa. Therefore, Angolan foreign market greatly determines the economic standing of the country. Angola exports mainly to Europe or American countries. It may, therefore, be right to say that the economy of Angola depends greatly on foreign nations outside of Africa ( Export.gov ).
According to the article “ Technical Assistant Report” by the IMF, o il in Angola has always been explored from 1910 when the Portuguese commissioned the exploration. Over the decades the finding and production of oil in Angola has increased from 100,000 barrels in a day in 1976 to 2.1 million barrels in a day in the year 2009 ( IMF, 2015 ). However, this exploration has brought much destruction to the Angolan environment. There has been much oil spillage at sea and air pollution from the transportation and exploration respectively. Certainly, sea contamination because of oil spills at rig drillings on the seabed, the loading and offloading of oil tankers through using the offshore system and waste from factories and other industries released on land, affect several areas in the Angolan coast such as the Bay of Luanda. This oil spillage in has in effect cause marine deaths and thus reduction of fishing activities.
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Africa, a continent endowed by massive natural and agricultural resources, has lately been experiencing resources extraction boom. However, it raises no argument that the exploitation of these resources is largely hurting her environment. In the Republic of Guinea, for instance, the Mount Nimba Biosphere Reserve, a World Heritage Site, was rationalized by 1,550 ha to enable the iron-ore mining ( IMF, 2015 ). This environmental degradation is as a result of the overexploitation due to the rising demand for the resources. The Congo basin which harbors most of Africa’s minerals is shared among the DRC, Republic of Guinea, Central African Republic, Angola, and the Republic of Congo. Minerals from this area happened to be among the most valuable and sought after in the foreign markets. It is, however, very unfortunate that it is these foreigners who benefit much from the extraction. The locals of the area around the mines are made to offer cheap labor in the extraction which applies outdated and crude methods, causing tremendous harm to the environment in effect. As a result, there has been the significant destruction of forests and national reserves which have thus greatly affected the weather patterns and climatic conditions in the region. Further, there is rising embezzlement in the country over diamond smuggling this accounts for more than $375 million every year. In addition, the continued adoption of coffee as the main beverage in the market has made the Angolan farmers strive to meet this demand every day ( IMF, 2015 ). Due to the low buying costs of coffee by the foreign countries, the farmers and their workers have been left malnutrition and without options. Thus the international demand for the Angolan products mainly benefits the foreigners as compared to the Angolan citizens.
In summation, as an individual in the United States enjoying the quality and affordable products in the country significantly affect the environment and the quality of life in Angola. As a consumer therefore always shopping for coffee and diamond products, remember that most of these products are smuggled and the right ones are purchased at throwaway prices by the cartels who aim at exploiting the workers and the natural resources. As a result, soil erosion in the country has been experienced in the mining grounds and also through the destruction of the natural resources. Most of the Angolan population is very hardworking but very poor due to the overexploitation of their resources by foreigners; in return environmental impacts have heavily befallen them. These impacts are not only felt in Angola but also in the entire African continent with the increase in arid and semi-arid regions and unpredictable weather patterns.
(Figure 1). Minerals in Africa. Retrieved from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/452963675003723377/
References
International Monetary Fund. (2015). Angola: Technical Assistant Report - Angola: Fuel Price Subsidy Reform the Way Forward. IMF Staff Country Reports , 15 (28), 1. http://dx.doi.org/10.5089/9781616357900.002
Angola - Environmental Technologies | export.gov . (2018). Export.gov . Retrieved from https://www.export.gov/article?id=Angola-Environmental-Technologies
