April this year marked the 10th anniversary of the end of Angola’s civil war. The 27-year conflict, which itself followed a 14-year independence struggle against colonial ruler Portugal, led to 500,000 people being killed and millions being displaced. The country's economy was shattered and most of its infrastructure was destroyed.
The turnaround in the past decade has been remarkable. Thanks to booming oil production, which now stands at 1.7 million barrels a day, Angola is Africa’s second largest crude exporter and the world’s second largest supplier of oil to China after Saudi Arabia. Its economy of $100bn is the third largest in sub-Saharan Africa, behind only South Africa and Nigeria. And its diplomatic clout is such that it was made president of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) cartel in 2009 and was invited to take part in the G-8 summit that year.