EU Cooperation with Politically Fragile Countries: Lessons from Angola

Angola’s performance in managing aid funds has been one of the poorest among ACP countries. Prolonged civil war, weak institutional and management capacity, and bureaucracy are the three main causes of this poor record.

The EU has tried to adapt its aid programmes to the changing situation in the country. The volume and the type of aid provided in recent years clearly reflects the EC’s efforts to adjust its decisions and behaviour to Angola’s rapidly evolving demands. Emergency and humanitarian aid have significantly increased and, as a rule, the implementation of rehabilitation and development projects has suffered from the chronic internal crisis.

The aim of this case study, undertaken within a wider ECDPM study on “aid selectivity and performance criteria”, is to identify the underlying causes of Angola’s poor performance and to draw lessons from the ways in which the EU has responded to its needs and situation. It also documents the different views and expectations of a wide range of actors on EU cooperation practices and, in light of the ongoing negotiations on a successor to Lomé IV, it presents some alternative cooperation strategies that may help the EU to improve its cooperation with politically fragile countries.