President of Angola
Jose Eduardo dos Santos
Date of Birth: 28 August 1942
Birth Place: Luanda
Political Party: Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola
Arrival in Power: 10 September 1979
Religion: NA
Profession: Politician
Biography:
Jose Eduardo dos Santos was born in Luanda, in 1942. He studied the Soviet Union at the Azerbaijan Oil and Chemistry Institute in Baku, present-day Azerbaijan. Following his studies he returned to Angola and joined the MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola). He became the country's president in 1979, following the death of the first Angolan president. He has been in power for 30 years, throughout his reign economic growth has been relatively high, he also dealt with a civil war that ended in 2002. Following the end of this civil war large foreign companies are looking to make substantial investments in order to extract Angola's natural resources, thus the growth rate will remain high. Angola is however viewed as an extremely corrupt country, and the government is accused of negligence in several sectors, notably basic infrastructure.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Eduardo_dos_Santos
Updated on: December 1, 2011