"Chinese loans, as well as companies doing business, have contributed to an impressive resurgence of the country’s economy and infrastructure after nearly 30 years of civil war. In the early 2000s, when Western institutions such as the World Bank impose severe conditions on assistance to Angola and dispensed long (and sometimes hypocritical) speeches on transparency and accountability, the Chinese came along with billions in loans and no questions asked.
Therefore, one would expect, as some observers have predicted, that Angola would fall under greater Chinese control. While China has gained an impressive economic presence in Angola, its political and diplomatic influence is growing weaker by the day, and its soft power is rather weak.
Along with billions in loans also came thousands of Chinese workers, with an estimated 100,000 Chinese now believed to be residing in Angola.iii While Chinese companies have won numerous lucrative contracts, very few jobs have actually been created for the Angolans.iv Some Western scholars have claimed that China brought thousands of workers to Angola because the country lacked skilled workers. Portuguese, Brazilian, Indian, and other countries' companies in Angola don’t seem to have that problem"..........READ MORE
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