Events from the year 2020 in

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

Incumbents

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

João Lourenço João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço (born 5 March 1954) is an Angolan politician who is currently serving as the third president of Angola since 26 September 2017. Previously, he was the minister of defence from 2014 to 2017. In September 2018, ...

Vice President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

Bornito de Sousa Bornito de Sousa Baltazar Diogo (born 23 July 1953) is an Angolan politician who was the third vice president of Angola, from 2017 to 2022. He was the vice presidential candidate for the MPLA in the 2017 Angolan general election, running alon ...

Events

Ongoing –

COVID-19 pandemic in Angola The COVID-19 pandemic in Angola was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The virus was confirmed to have spread to Angola in late March 2020, with the ...

January

*17 January – Italian oil company

Eni Eni is an Italian oil and gas corporation. Eni or ENI may refer to: Businesses and organisations * Escuela Nacional de Inteligencia, the Argentine intelligence academy * Groupe des écoles nationales d’ingénieurs (Groupe ENI), a French engi ...

begins production at the offshore Agogo oil field with an initial extraction of 10,000 barrels per day. *19 January –

Isabel dos Santos Isabel Kukanova dos Santos (; born 20 April 1973) is an Angolan businesswoman, the eldest child of Angola's former President José Eduardo dos Santos, who ruled the country from 1979 to 2017. As early as 2013 ''Forbes'' described how dos Santo ...

, the daughter of former President

José Eduardo dos Santos José Eduardo Van-Dúnem dos Santos (; 28 August 1942 – 8 July 2022) was an Angolan politician and military officer who served as the second president of Angola from 1979 to 2017. As president, dos Santos was also the commander-in-chief of th ...

, is accused in a report by the

International Consortium of Investigative Journalists The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, Inc. (ICIJ), is an independent global network of 280 investigative journalists and over 140 media organizations spanning more than 100 countries. It is based in Washington, D.C., with ...

of embezzling much of her estimated $2.2 billion fortune from Angolan public money through nepotism and corruption. dos Santos refutes the allegations, calling them an "orchestrated attack" by the Lourenço government.

February

*17 February – A visit by United States Secretary of State

Mike Pompeo Michael Richard Pompeo (; born December 30, 1963) is an American retired politician who served in the First presidency of Donald Trump#Administration, first administration of Donald Trump as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) fr ...

takes place in Luanda, in which Pompeo commends government efforts to reduce corruption within the country.

March

*17 March – The ''

Jornal de Angola ''Jornal de Angola'' is the only daily newspaper in Angola since the independence of the country in 1975. The organization uses wire feeds from ANGOP, Agence France-Presse, Reuters, EFE, and Prensa Latina. The newspaper is published in Luanda ...

'' reports that a debt of $100 million owed to Angola by

Chad Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...

is to be paid in cattle, with a total of 75,000 cows valued at $1,333 each to be transferred to the Angolese government over the next ten years. *21 March – Health Minister Silvia Lutucuta confirms the country's first two cases of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

after two citizens returning from Portugal days earlier test positive for the virus. *23 March – Schools and universities across the country close for a period of fifteen days to limit the spread of COVID-19. *29 March - Health Minister Silvia Lutucuta announces Angola's first fatalities from the COVID-19 pandemic – a 37-year old and a 59-year old who had both returned from Portugal more than two weeks prior – with the total number of confirmed cases in the country rising to seven. The country's first recorded recovery from the virus is announced the following day.

May

*11 May – President João Lourenço announces a fifteen-day extension of the national state of emergency, warning that an easing of restrictions would place the country "in serious danger of evolving to community transmission". A total of 43 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Angola as of this date, with 13 recoveries and two deaths. *25 May – The

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

announces that the national state of emergency is to end the following day, to be replaced by the lesser "state of calamity" until the provisional date of 9 June.

June

*9 June – In an interview with newspaper ''Valor Económico'', Isabel dos Santos confirms that four of the eight Candando supermarket stores in the country will close with the loss of approximately 1,000 jobs, blaming her inability to pay suppliers on the freezing of her assets in December 2019. *11 June – The

Finance Ministry A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

reports a 48% drop in the value of the country's oil exports for May compared to April, a result of reduced international demand for oil from worldwide COVID-19 lockdowns and lower domestic production in line with other

OPEC The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC ) is an organization enabling the co-operation of leading oil-producing and oil-dependent countries in order to collectively influence the global oil market and maximize Profit (eco ...

countries. *13 June – The Secretary of State for Public Health, Franco Mufinda, reports the number of cases of COVID-19 in Angola has increased to 138 and the number of recoveries has risen to 19. As of this date six people have died from the virus and 549 remain in quarantine. *23 June – The

Universal Church of the Kingdom of God The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG; ; , IURD) is an international Evangelical Neo-charismatic movement, Neo-charismatic Christian denomination with its headquarters at the Temple of Solomon (UCKG), Temple of Solomon in São Paulo, B ...

of Angola splits from the central management in Brazil after local demands to tackle financial irregularities and discrimination within the organisation go unheeded. The church has approximately 500,000 adherents in Angola.

July

*7 July – The government agrees to OPEC demands to further reduce national oil production until September after exceeding previously agreed quotas in May and June by at least 60,000 barrels per day.

August

*14 August –

José Filomeno dos Santos Jose Filomeno de Sousa dos Santos (born 9 January 1978) is an Angolan businessman, and the son of Angola's former President José Eduardo dos Santos, who ruled the country from 1979 to 2017. Following a lengthy legal process Angola's top court d ...

, the son of former President José Eduardo dos Santos, is sentenced to five years in prison for misappropriating $500m from the nation's sovereign wealth fund during his tenure as the fund's head. *15 August – Prosecutor-General Alvaro Da Silva Joao announces the closure of seven properties across Luanda owned by the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God over claims of corruption and tax fraud.

Deaths

*26 May –

Oscar Lino Lopes Fernandes Braga Oscar Lino Lopes Fernandes Braga (30 September 1931 – 26 May 2020) was the Roman Catholic bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Benguela, Angola. A priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a relig ...

, Roman Catholic prelate (b. 1931). *20 June – Pedro Lima, actor and Olympic swimmer (

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

) (b. 1971). *24 July –

Kundi Paihama Kundi Paihama (9 December 1944 – 24 July 2020) was an Angolan politician who served as Angola's Minister of Defense from 2002 to 2010. He served subsequently as Minister for War Veterans. Paihama was the 18th candidate on the national list of ...

, politician (b. 1944). *10 August –

Waldemar Bastos Waldemar dos Santos Alonso de Almeida Bastos (January 4, 1954 – August 10, 2020) was an Angolan musician who combined Afropop, Portuguese (fado), and Brazilian influences. History He was born in the Portuguese Overseas Province of Angol ...

, musician (b. 1954). *11 October – Fernando Lopes, 55, Olympic swimmer (

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

).Fernando Lopes enluta desporto angolano

References

External links

* {{Year in Africa, 2020 2020s in Angola Years of the 21st century in Angola