Finance Minister of the Year/ Africa: Jose Pedro de Morais, Finance Minister, Angola
Jose Pedro de Morais, the finance minister of Angola, has been a foremost figure in the country’s economic rebirth over the past four years. This powerful technocrat has won the confidence of the president to move Angola forward from decline and dissension to a point where local commentators and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) alike express admiration, bordering on incredulity.
Mr Morais’s contribution to the rebirth of Angola may be summed up in a single word, ‘reform’. He has been foremost in leading a new transparent culture. This covers many areas. For example, he has provided much greater information about oil revenues and oil receipts. He has also come forward with clear statistical data about the management of the economy.
Edward George, an economics analyst with the Economist Intelligence Unit, goes so far as to say that Mr Morais has ensured that the country “publishes more information than many countries that have signed up to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative [EITI]. Angola is definitively ahead of the game in this respect, and the Finance Ministry should take much of the credit”.
The influence of the finance minister goes deeper into the economic management, so Mr Morais has been at the front of the war on inflation. This has particularly impressed observers who have long despaired of Angola’s galloping inflation. Inflation rates now range between a manageable 10% and 15%; the government aims to lower them yet further.
A bold programme of buying up dollars and converting them into the local kwanza currency has also produced currency stability. One body that has expressed grudging admiration for the economic management of Mr Morais is the IMF, which has long sought to direct Angola’s economic strategy. In fact, Mr Morais has taken the country on a steadfastly independent route.
The injection of Chinese money has been at the nub of Angola’s independence from the IMF. It is reported that the country has taken some $5bn worth of aid from China, in what is thought to be a swap for Angolan energy assets. The country was again ahead of the field in anticipating Chinese involvement in Africa.
If commentators, and indeed the IMF itself, have any reservations about Angola’s economic rebirth, it is the country’s failure, to date, to develop a non-oil economy. Allied to this, is the poor climate for international and local business enterprise. Mr Morais’s reforming task is far from complete but he has taken things a long way.
