The highlight of the last six months was the "Angola Day" conference held at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars on May 9. A report on this event can be found elsewhere in this issue, but, in addition, a pamphlet on "Angola Day" will be published in the near future and will be available to members of the Chamber. Suffice it to say that "Angola Day" was a huge success.

The working group on Angola had two meetings during the first half of the year. In February, Professor Alves da Rocha, Special Advisor to the Ministry of Planning and Academic Dean of the Economic Research Center at the Catholic University of Angola and Dr. Jose Oliviera, editor of Revista de Energia, discussed recent economic developments in Angola with particular attention to the oil and energy sectors. Alves da Rocha noted in particular that (a) since the end of the war, 90% of the internally displaced persons have returned to their home provinces leading to an important boost in agricultural production; (b) macroeconomic stabilization has been facilitated by the end of the war, high oil prices, and bilateral loans from China, Brazil, Portugal, and Spain; (c) foreign investment has increased, not only in the oil and gas sector, but also in diamonds, banking, construction, and manufacturing; and (d) despite these positive economic developments, the country's social sector remains underdeveloped and the poverty index very high. Jose Oliviera stated that Angola's oil reserves are now estimated at 13 billion barrels and more reserves are being discovered then are being produced. He also noted that Sonangol was the major oil exporter in 2006 followed by ExxonMobil and Chevron and Total in third place. Also of note, China is a major importer of Angolan oil and in the third quarter of 2006 bought all of Cabinda's oil production.

Dr. Francisco Cairneiro, Senior Country Economist for Angola at the World Bank, reviewed at an April working group meeting the findings of the Country Economic Memorandum on Angola published in October 2006. Cairneiro emphasized that Angola needed to plan carefully for long-term development if the economy was to diversify and grow in the non-oil sectors. He specifically noted the need to complete the transition to a market economy, improve the business environment, prioritize the development of the agricultural sector, and improve public services to the poor. 

At the end of May, the Chamber hosted a lunch at the Hotel Tropico on the occasion of the first official visit to Angola by the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Jendayi Frazer. In his capacity of Chairman of the Chamber, Terry McPhail of Esso Angola presided at the lunch. Ambassadors Josafina Diakite and Cynthia Efird also attended. The Chamber would like to thank BP, Chevron, and Esso for sponsoring this event. Special thanks also to Liliana de Sousa who successfully organized the event on short notice.

The Annual and Board meetings were held at the Washington offices of ExxonMobil in June. The Chairman, Simeon Moats, outlined the successes that the Chamber had had during the previous year. They included the trade mission/business symposium in October 2006; the 15^th Anniversary Gala Dinner at Casa 70 in December; "Angola Day"; the lunch in honor of the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs; and the continuation of the very successful working group meetings. Moats also noted the move to one part of the office suite of the Corporate Council on Africa, which has the twofold benefit of cutting rent costs and providing greater synergy between the two organizations. Deputy Director Maria da Cruz provided a report on finances. She indicated that the Chamber had returned a small profit in 2006 largely because of income received from the trade mission/business symposium and the Gala Dinner. With respect to 2007, a budget surplus was also projected. The final order of business was the election to the Board of Directors. BP, BAI, and Citizens Energy were reelected for another three-year term and Grupo Valentine Amoes was elected to the Board for the first time. At the conclusion of the meeting, Kevin Lowther of Africare announced that he was retiring and this would be his last meeting. He introduced his replacement, Peter Percell. Lowther said he had enjoyed serving on the Board of Directors and commended the Chamber for the various activities it had carried out for the benefit of its members and the larger relationship between Angola and the United States. The Executive Director, Paul Hare, responded that Lowther had been a mainstay of the Chamber over the years and he personally had greatly benefited from Lowther's wisdom and insights on developments in Angola.

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