Although the second-largest oil producer in Sub-Saharan Africa, Angola has a projected poverty rate of 12.4 million in 2024. This estimated figure is based on rising food prices and slowing growth in the nation during 2023, consequently leading to 33% of Angolans living below $2.15 a day. In hopes of limiting 2024 projections for Angola, the United Nations Sustainable Development Framework has offered support to the Central African region. It comes in the form of a development plan from 2024-2028, which highlights key areas of improvement. Sitting down with Jonathan Kenda, a recent volunteer worker in Angola, we learn whether the three priorities he spotted as reducing poverty in Angola are included in the U.N. development plan.

Issues on the Ground

“I did a lot of community service,” Kenda explains when describing his day-to-day role within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. “I was based in Luanda, but over the course of the year, I covered the whole of Angola.” With such broad awareness of Angola, Kenda pointed to a “scarcity of pure and clean water,” a divide between “areas that weren’t properly developed” and those that were and “waste pollution” as contributing factors to poverty in the Central African nation.

Validating Kenda’s observations are the droughts that the Southern provinces of Angola have suffered over the last decade and the six thousand tonnes of solid waste produced daily by Luanda, Angola’s capital, alone. To such issues, there have been responsive solutions. One is the “Water for All” campaign. The other and more recent, is the formation of a plastic reduction task force made by the Angolan government.

During the interview, however, these three issues, which have prompted respective aid campaigns, only form three of Kenda’s formative priorities to reduce poverty in Angola. Later in the conversation, he outlined the top three priorities to reduce poverty in Angola: Education, Infrastructure and Medicine.

Education

Kenda noted that “as a sector, its importance is rising in Angola.” This is mirrored in the U.N.’s Development Framework, with its top priority being to transform education. Nationally, Angola has shouldered responsibility, too. The government has not only set education as a top priority but has done so for the next four years.

However, “a lot more could be done”. Kenda explains that after “countless conversations [with] locals,” it became clear that “the majority of schools taught at a basic level due to the site not having resources to help students better their understanding.” Due to this material deprivation within schools, Kenda highlights that it is common to see families with money “sending their children overseas to receive an education.” The fact that less than 1% of Angolans attend university in the country, despite the growing education sector, underscores a systemic issue that fails to cultivate an attitude toward learning that exceeds expectations.

Kenda also pointed to teachers’ pay as a contributing factor to the growth of the education sector without significant progress. However, there are solutions in motion and just before the new year, a World Bank pledge offers even greater hope. The commitment involves a 10-year, $150 million aid service aimed at strengthening specifics such as school governance, teacher training and education courses across Angola.

Infrastructure

Infrastructure, identified as a priority to reduce poverty in Angola, is demonstrated in the material deprivation within the school system. However, according to Kenda, the infrastructure sector in Angola faces a bigger issue. “During the time I spent in Angola,” Kenda explains, “there were only a few areas that had a good network of roads and modes of transport.” This area of civil planning is a niche area within the sector of infrastructure. Aligning with the U.N.’s Development Framework, Kenda’s priority for reducing poverty in Angola through road planning is mirrored in the intent to develop rural roads.

As Kenda went on to explain that “of the road network, there were parts of it that needed improvements” due to roads prone to flooding, the approach made by the UN in its 2024-2028 plan reflects the on-the-ground concerns of the voluntary worker. As Kenda continued to explain, “of the road network, there were parts of it that needed improvements” due to roads prone to flooding. The approach made by the U.N. in its 2024-2028 plan reflects the on-the-ground concerns of the voluntary worker. The development of road planning is part of a broad national intent, too, which hopes to provide a significant transformation in Angolan infrastructure and which, in January 2024, was commended by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Medicine

Kenda’s final priority to reduce poverty in Angola: Medicine. The U.N.’s Development Framework for Angola notes the intent to enhance the funding and quality of primary health care services. Although, no emphasis is placed on medicine. “Accessing medicine was difficult for the locals,” explains Kenda. “It was often too expensive and most of the time, the local pharmacies did not have many medicinal products that could effectively combat an array of illnesses.” Kenda’s worries stem from the one pharmacy for more than 22,000 Angolans and the drug shortages that hinder pharmacies across the country.

However, in a similar fashion to the growing sector for Infrastructure, financial predictions are set on the Angolan pharmaceutical market to experience significant growth over the coming years. Aside from the £130 million investment made by the U.K., investments to prompt such growth in the Angolan pharmaceutical sector fail to pile in.

Angolans in 2024

Kenda and the countless Angolans he encountered during his time in the nation have experienced and identified with these three priorities to reduce poverty in Angola. Responsive aid campaigns in the sector of education and infrastructure have provided more than ample solutions that are fit for the future. They contribute to a broad development in professional and academic experience, inspiring an upcoming generation of Angolans. Investments in the medical and pharmaceutical sector, however, flail behind slightly. To reduce poverty in Angola, the sector must undergo a transformation similar to the ongoing developments in education and infrastructure.

– Joseph Wray
Photo: Unsplash