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Previewing Angola’s General Election

Jul 21, 2022 | 17:10 GMT

Angolan President Joao Lourenco is pictured on a flag at a campaign rally for the country’s ruling People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) party on June 26, 2021, at Largo das Escolas in Luanda.

Angolan President Joao Lourenco is pictured on a flag at a campaign rally for the country’s ruling People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) party on June 26, 2021, at Largo das Escolas in Luanda.

(OSVALDO SILVA/AFP via Getty Images)

Angolan President Joao Lourenco will likely secure another term in next month’s election. But an increasingly united opposition and a spotlight on electoral fraud mean that support for his ruling party will likely decline in the long term, posing potential political and regulatory uncertainty for international investors in the Southern African nation. On Aug. 24, Angola will hold a general election to elect the president and members of the country’s National Assembly. President Lourenco from the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) party will seek a second term, facing off against opposition leader Adalberto Costa Junior from the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) party. The MPLA has been Angola’s largest party for decades, in part due to its leadership in the anti-colonial, anti-apartheid movement. But support has waned in recent years due to grievances over inequality, poverty, police brutality, repression of civil society and...

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