“Given the extent of both the human and material destruction in Angola over the past thirty years, it would seem unwise to expect that, even were peace to hold, recovery would be swift. For all its untapped natural wealth, this is not a country comparable with post-1945 Germany in terms of its residual human skills. Nor is there a Marshall Plan in prospect. The focus should be on ‘building’ a country rather than rebuilding it. In some respects this is a catch-22 situation: without some form of economic recovery in the countryside, the incentive to seek peace is relatively slight, yet without a commitment to peace there can be no recovery.”
