Angola tries to ride out the slump

The economy has stalled and oil-output growth targets will not be met. Now the president has put his daughter in charge of the state company

Angola has been hit hard by the collapse of oil-export revenue, while the installation of Isabel dos Santos, the president’s daughter, as head of state oil firm Sonangol in June has raised questions for the oil companies with which it does business. Economic growth has collapsed with the oil price. The finance ministry said in July it was cutting its GDP growth forecast for this year to 1.3% from a previous estimate of 3.3%, which was already a drop on previous growth. Government revenues—mostly from oil—will also fall, from $24.4bn to $18bn, and so, therefore, will spending, from $30bn to $24bn. The latest drop in the oil price will probably now send the government back to the IMF asking fo