Angola - Infrastructure, power, and communications



Due to the extensive warfare, most of Angola's infrastructure has been destroyed. Millions of land mines were laid, and efforts to remove them have so far made little progress. Not only do these vast numbers of mines hamper the building of an infrastructure of extensive road networks, but they continue to maim and kill civilians. There are 19,156 kilometers (11,903.5 miles) of paved roads and a total of 2,952 kilometers (1,834.4 miles) of rail tracks. There are 32 airports with paved runways and 217 with unpaved runways. However, the condition of these airfields varies, and mines are a problem here as well.

Transportation in general is a problem in Angola. Perhaps no sector has suffered more than transportation from the war. Roads, railways, and bridges have been severely damaged. Ports are run-down and antiquated. More than 60 percent of the paved road network needs repair. The estimation of the Angolan government is that it will take 10-15 years to restore the road network to the status prior to the war. However, this presumes an end to the fighting, without which the road infrastructure will take considerably longer to recreate. The road, railway, and bridge networks are essential for the other economic sectors to grow. They will link the main cities in the country and get the products from one end of the country to the next.

The continued political violence and fighting is the reason for the lack of external investment in Angola. However, when stability returns, the lack of an infrastructure

Communications
Country Newspapers Radios TV Sets a Cable subscribers a Mobile Phones a Fax Machines a Personal Computers a Internet Hosts b Internet Users b
1996 1997 1998 1998 1998 1998 1998 1999 1999
Angola 11 54 14 N/A 1 N/A 0.8 0.00 10
United States 215 2,146 847 244.3 256 78.4 458.6 1,508.77 74,100
South Africa 32 317 125 N/A 56 3.5 47.4 33.36 1,820
Dem. Rep. of Congo 3 375 135 N/A 0 N/A N/A 0.00 1
a Data are from International Telecommunication Union, World Telecommunication Development Report 1999and are per 1,000 people.
b Data are from the Internet Software Consortium ( http://www.isc.org ) and are per 10,000 people.
SOURCE : World Bank. World Development Indicators 2000.

will be a major factor hindering economic development. Building an infrastructure is essential for the country's further development of other economic areas such as agricultural products, of which Angola used to be a net exporter.

There are about 60,000 telephone main lines in use (1995). The telephone system is limited mostly to government and business use. Radio telephones are used extensively by the military. There are 2 Internet service providers in the country (1999), but the level of personal computer ownership is very low (0.8 per 1,000 in 1998). There are also very few televisions in Angola, with only 14 sets per 1,000 people in 1998.

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Due to the extensive warfare, most of Angola's infrastructure has been destroyed. Millions of land mines were laid, and efforts to remove them have so far made little progress. Not only do these vast numbers of mines hamper the building of an infrastructure of extensive road networks, but they continue to maim and kill civilians. There are 19,156 kilometers (11,903.5 miles) of paved roads and a total of 2,952 kilometers (1,834.4 miles) of rail tracks. There are 32 airports with paved runways and 217 with unpaved runways. However, the condition of these airfields varies, and mines are a problem here as well.

Transportation in general is a problem in Angola. Perhaps no sector has suffered more than transportation from the war. Roads, railways, and bridges have been severely damaged. Ports are run-down and antiquated. More than 60 percent of the paved road network needs repair. The estimation of the Angolan government is that it will take 10-15 years to restore the road network to the status prior to the war. However, this presumes an end to the fighting, without which the road infrastructure will take considerably longer to recreate. The road, railway, and bridge networks are essential for the other economic sectors to grow. They will link the main cities in the country and get the products from one end of the country to the next.

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