Fresh from Angola Briefing: the MPLA succession battle is far from over
Higino Carneiro’s exclusion appears to leave João Lourenço on course for an uncontested MPLA leadership election in December. But our newly published Angola Briefing argues that this settles only the easier question: can Lourenço continue to exercise political power after he has to leave the presidency in 2027?
Fernando Lima is joined by journalist and political analyst José Gama and entrepreneur and commentator Cláudio Silva to examine Carneiro’s remaining options, the limits on an MPLA leader’s power over a sitting president and the lessons of José Eduardo dos Santos’s failed attempt to manage his own succession.
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They also dig into Angola’s ballooning fuel-subsidy bill, the FNLA’s leadership crisis and why the country’s first municipal elections remain out of reach.
The politics of 2027 moves from the MPLA’s internal succession battle to the mechanics of the election itself today. UNITA wants the government to explain progress towards issuing 15 million identity cards, with access to the BI increasingly important as Angola changes the documents used for voting.
Away from politics, President João Lourenço says one of Angola’s largest water projects will begin operating in December, while the government is reporting a dramatic reduction in overdue payments from buyers of privatised state assets. And next week brings an external test of Angola’s financial reforms, as the FATF reviews progress by countries on its grey list.
TODAY'S BRIEFING
- ELECTIONS — UNITA challenges government over voter registration and the 15m-ID target
- WATER — Quilonga Grande due in December as two projects target 7.5m consumers
- PRIVATISATION — PROPRIV arrears fall from Kz196bn to Kz19bn
- FINANCE — FATF prepares to review Angola’s progress on the grey list
- CAPITAL MARKETS — Just 61,000 Angolans invest in the securities market
UNITA puts voter IDs at the centre of the 2027 election
UNITA has asked the government to disclose how many national identity cards have been issued as Angola prepares for the 2027 general election, arguing that problems with civil registration and access to IDs could restrict participation.
A UNITA delegation led by Álvaro Chikwamanga Daniel met Justice and Human Rights Minister Marcy Lopes on Thursday and submitted a memorandum detailing complaints collected around the country. The opposition party says some municipalities lack civil registry posts, mobile brigades struggle to reach isolated areas and questions remain over the identification and operation of some registration teams.
The government has committed to producing 15 million Bilhetes de Identidade (BI) by 2027. The Justice Ministry told UNITA that the civil-registration database contains around 17.24 million people, including 14 million adults, but the party is asking how many of the promised IDs have actually been issued and whether deceased citizens have been removed from the database.
WHAT TO WATCH
Whether the Justice Ministry publishes detailed BI issuance figures, how registration coverage varies geographically, and the outcome of UNITA’s planned discussions with the Territorial Administration Ministry over the operation of registration services.
Quilonga Grande to open in December as water projects target 7.5m people
President João Lourenço says the Quilonga Grande water system will be inaugurated in December, with capacity intended to serve around five million people in Luanda and Icolo e Bengo.
A second major system, BITA, is expected to enter service in mid-2027 and is designed to serve another 2.5 million people, bringing the stated potential reach of the two projects to 7.5 million. Lourenço announced the timetable at the Luanda Biennale, where water governance is a central theme.
Quilonga Grande, drawing water from the Kwanza River, is designed to produce 518,000 cubic metres per day and was reported by the government in September to be more than 90% physically complete.
