Category: Articles

Angola Needs a New Constitution — Now

Angola’s constitutional order is not merely dysfunctional but economically distortionary. Since taking office in 2017, President João Lourenço has authorized an estimated $61.5 billion in public spending by presidential decree, without open tender or transparent contracting, frequently benefiting private interests linked to his inner circle. This is not an aberration. It is the predictable outcome of a constitutional design that concentrates executive power while neutralizing oversight. In Angola, the presidency is not anchored in a direct popular mandate but in party hierarchy, and its authority operates with incipient institutional restraint. The result is a system where political power and economic allocation are tightly fused. It undermines market confidence, distorts competition, and erodes the legal certainty on which long-term investment depends. If Portugal adopted Angola’s presidential model, the current president would not be António José Seguro. It would be Joaquim Miranda Sarmento, the top candidate of the most voted party in […]

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Between Succession and Collapse: Angola at the End of Lourenço’s Rule

Before asking who will succeed João Lourenço, a more uncomfortable question looms: what kind of country will he leave behind at the end of his final term? The issue is not merely one of political succession, but of structural inheritance. Over a decade in power, what has taken shape is not a reformist project, but the deepening of a system built on revanchism, state capture, and misgovernance. As Angola approaches a decade under João Lourenço, it has not emerged as a stronger or more just state—it has grown more centralized, more opaque, and more exposed to the whims of unchecked presidential power. The case of General Higino Carneiro illustrates the pattern. Cleared by the Supreme Court of corruption charges, he re-emerged in the political arena—only to face new accusations as he positioned himself as a contender for the leadership of the MPLA. This sequence suggests not a consistent system of […]

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Angola: An Election That Doesn’t Decide

In Angola, where corruption and the capture of state institutions by political and economic elites remain persistent concerns, the independence of the justice system is a matter of national importance. The country is now about to hold an election for one of the most powerful positions in that system. Yet the vote will not determine who actually wins. On March 16, members of the Public Prosecutor’s Office will elect candidates for the position of Attorney General. But under Angola’s legal framework, the outcome of that election does not decide the appointment. Instead, the three most voted candidates will be submitted to President João Lourenço, who will select one of them to lead the country’s prosecutorial authority. In other words: prosecutors vote, but the president decides. The arrangement creates an institutional paradox — an election whose result does not determine the winner. In any electoral process, the principle is straightforward: the […]

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Constitutional Breach: Secretary of State Remains Director-General of IGCA

On 3 March 2026, four months after assuming office as Secretary of State, Conceição Cristóvão convened IGCA employees to a meeting scheduled for 6 March to discuss the institute’s internal functioning — signing the notice in his capacity as Director-General. Today, 6 March, he has presided over that meeting. Similarly, Adilson Freire, who serves as head of the IGCA Director’s Support Department, combines these duties with those of chief of staff to the Secretary of State for Urbanism and Housing. Symptomatically, Adilson Freire took office as chief of staff to the Secretary of State in a private ceremony, without this information being posted on the Ministry’s website. Since 30 October 2025, Conceição Luís Cristóvão has served as Secretary of State for Urbanism and Housing. Under the Angolan Constitution and the legal framework governing public administration, appointment to this office makes it incompatible for him to continue exercising the functions of Director-General […]

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How Angola’s Land Registry Undermines Property Rights

A technical opinion confirmed the ownership of a 9.86-hectare plot in Talatona, Luanda. Angola’s Cadastral Institute concealed that finding for eight months while communicating a different version to prosecutors. The case reveals how manipulation of land records is eroding property rights and driving a surge in land conflicts across Angola. A technical opinion confirmed the ownership of a 9.86-hectare plot of land in Talatona, Luanda. The leadership of Angola’s Geographical and Cadastral Institute (IGCA) withheld that information for eight months and communicated a different version to the Public Prosecutor’s Office. The case of Maria Africano da Silva exposes the risk of institutional capture within Angola’s cadastral system — and the legal insecurity surrounding property rights. The request forms part of a criminal proceeding for land usurpation (case no. 33.859/25-LDA) involving a dispute between Maria Africano da Silva and Orlando Veloso, former president of Sonangol Imobiliária e Propriedades (SONIP), the real […]

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Editorial Note on Grupo Carrinho

In fulfilment of its legal and ethical obligations, Maka Angola has published Grupo Carrinho’s response to the articles released on its platform on 23 and 24 February 2026. The right of reply and institutional balance have therefore been fully ensured, allowing readers to assess, with equal prominence, the positions presented. We stand by our reporting in its entirety. The articles are the result of documented investigative work conducted in accordance with rigorous journalistic standards and in the exercise of the public’s right to information and scrutiny. Any dispute regarding the facts reported may be pursued through the competent legal forums, as provided by law. Maka Angola will continue to carry out its work independently, calmly, and with a steadfast commitment to accountability.

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Press Release — Carrinho Group’s Right of Reply

PRESS RELEASE PUBLIC CLARIFICATION, RESTORATION OF FACTS AND DEMAND FOR CORRECTION IN THE FACE OF UNSUPPORTED ALLEGATIONS The Carrinho Group hereby issues a formal public clarification and restores the factual truth in response to statements published by the Maka Angola portal in articles entitled “Carrinho: the Silent Concentration of Economic Power” (23 February 2026) and “The Suspicious Connections of the Carrinho Group” (24 February 2026). The articles in question contain extremely serious allegations, including percentages and conclusions presented as facts, based on insinuations, unidentified “sources” and inferences, without any documentary evidence, verifiable methodology or effective rebuttal. The Carrinho Group firmly rejects the attempt to turn suspicion into fact through repetition or association. Furthermore, the publications themselves acknowledge in the text that “there is no evidence” of irregular practices attributable to the Group, but nevertheless insist on conjecture and insinuating constructions. Such an editorial method does not correspond to informed scrutiny; […]

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Angola’s U$61.5 Billion Contracts by Presidential Decree. No Public Tender

In Angola, major public spending decisions are often not announced in televised addresses or debated on the floor of Parliament. They appear instead in the Diário da República — formal presidential decrees, written in technical language, authorizing contracts that can reshape entire sectors of the economy. Between 2017 and today, at least US$61.5 billion has been approved through one such mechanism: simplified procurement. That figure emerges from a review of 476 presidential decrees, drawn from more than 500 examined during President João Lourenço’s two terms in office. It is not a complete accounting of all direct awards issued over eight years. It is a documented sample. Yet even as a partial record, it reveals the scale at which executive discretion has operated. Of the 476 decrees analyzed, beneficiaries could be identified in 273 cases. In the remaining 203 — representing 42.6 percent — no beneficiary is publicly named. Those unidentified […]

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Carrinho: The Sanctions Shadow Behind Angola’s Industrial Showcase

Angola’s most celebrated industrial project was financed in part by a trader later sanctioned by the European Union and the United Kingdom. There is no proof of wrongdoing by Carrinho — but the absence of transparency leaves troubling questions unanswered. After examining how public contracts and sovereign guarantees have concentrated economic power in Angola (see the first part of this dossier), this second investigation looks at the international ties of the Carrinho Group — including partnerships with entities linked to sanctions proceedings in Europe — and the due-diligence and transparency questions that follow. Carrinho’s business relationships with several international entities warrant heightened scrutiny, particularly given the lack of publicly available financial information and the complexity of the corporate structures involved. Confirmed links connect Carrinho to Manty AG, based in Switzerland and led by Maurice Taylor, and to Paramount Energy & Commodities, founded by Dutch trader Niels Troost. Manty AG appears […]

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When Economic Power Becomes Systemic Risk in Angola

Angola’s diversification strategy was designed to reduce dependence on oil and build a competitive, broad-based economy. Instead, a growing body of public records suggests that economic power is becoming increasingly concentrated around a small number of politically connected conglomerates. At the center of this transformation stands the Carrinho Group. Over the past four years, the group has expanded from agro-industry into food importation, military logistics and banking, underwritten by presidential decrees, sovereign guarantees and state-backed financing. The Strategic Food Reserve: Over Half a Billion Dollars Mobilized The Strategic Food Reserve (Reserva Estratégica Alimentar — REA) was launched in 2021 as a national price stabilization and food security mechanism. In its first operational year alone, the Angolan state invested more than $200 million in the program, according to official reporting by the state-owned Rádio Nacional de Angola. Between late 2021 and 2022, President João Lourenço authorized four additional supplementary credit lines […]

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