Originally posted by the Voice of America.
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Is Angola's Anti-Corruption Drive Real or Cosmetic?

Anita Powell

   JOHANNESBURG / WASHINGTON - Angola's president, Joao Lourenco, quickly
   earned an impressive nickname after he swept into office in 2017 and
   launched an anti-corruption drive after 38 years of cronyism under
   former leader Jose Eduardo Dos Santos.

   They call him "The Terminator."

   And the president has grown into his nickname. Last month, Angola's
   government froze the assets of billionaire entrepreneur Isabel Dos
   Santos, the former president's eldest daughter and former head of the
   state-run oil company.

   But increasingly, Lourenco's anti-corruption efforts appear to target
   Dos Santos' family members. Isabel's brother is on trial for his
   alleged role in embezzlement and money laundering during his tenure as
   head of the nation's sovereign wealth fund.

   That, along with the government's reluctance to prosecute the former
   vice president, a top Lourenco ally, is leading critics to ask whether
   "The Terminator" is actually trying to destroy corruption -- or if this
   is just the same old Angolan drama, with different characters.

   'Same practices being pursued'

   Robert Besseling, director of risk assessment firm EXX Africa, says his
   team of researchers has found worrying evidence of the latter.

   "The guard in Angola seems to have changed -- at least that's at the
   highest ranks of government," he told VOA this week, after the release
   of a report documenting the many complicated dealings of Angola's
   elite. However, he added, "These are the same practices still very much
   being pursued. And that is what we're seeing through ... the major
   families in Angola -- including those of the president and former vice
   president -- who are engaging in rather speculative practices that
   could be described as fraudulent and dealing with companies that have
   had very checkered reputations."

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