“ The hungry cannot remain silent ”

The people of certain parts of the Angolan capital, Luanda, are always afraid to speak openly about what happened in July when demonstrations was part of the city at the stop and the disturbances also shaken other provinces.

What started as a call among taxi drivers to compete against the leap of the price of fuel has become violent over three days with at least 30 people losing their lives and thousands of arrests thereafter.

The roads were blocked with burning tires, the stores were looted and clashes broke out between the demonstrators and the police.

It was one of the most important waves of protest since the end of the civil war in 2002.

From the perspective of Angola rich in oil, marking 50 years of independence from Portugal on November 11, the demonstrations underlined the continuous concerns concerning poverty and inequalities.

In the districts where the demonstrations were the strongest, few people are ready to speak openly, worried about reprisals or persecution in the light of the many arrests during and after the demonstrations.

“Things may have been a little uncontrollable, but we had to make so much noise to awaken those in power,” a 24-year-old street seller told the BBC, who wanted to remain anonymous at the BBC.

After leaving school before finishing secondary education, he now sells soft drinks along the Avenida Pedro of Castro Van-Dúnem Loy, one of the most frequented arteries in the capital, to help support his family.

He is one of the millions here who finds it difficult to happen in the middle of the sparkling skyscrapers built by silver in oil.

For the seller, joining the first day of protests was a way of showing that “we have a voice” and that people like him deserve a part of the wealth of the country which is “rich for some, but miserable for so many of us”.

Young unemployment has been a major engine of demonstrations in this young country where the middle median age is less than 16 years.

Unemployment among 15 to 24 year olds is 54%, according to official figures. Of the 18 million young people of working age, only three million have jobs in the formal sector – which means that they obtain regular wages and pay taxes.

In the main cities of Angola, the many unemployed young people, who are no longer in school, highlight the difficulty of the State to encounter their aspirations.

“I only sell in the street when I can have enough money to buy soft drinks,” said the street seller.

“Months ago when I don’t sell anything at all because business is so slow. Me and so many other young people live like that and no one pays us attention. This is why we cannot remain silent.”

Angolan sociologist Gilson Lázaro was not surprised by what happened in July. He believes that those at the heart of the demonstrations were the “dispossessed”.

“These are young people, the majority, who have nothing more than their lives. This is why they went down to the street without fear,” he said.

The demonstrations spontaneously emerged in some of the most populous and poorest districts of Luanda, where some residents do not have access to basic sanitation as well as other essential infrastructure.

Little by little, the demonstrators moved into the main avenues of the capital, provoking chaos and “raising the veil on a social problem which has long existed but which the political elite preferred to ignore”, according to the sociologist.

“For some time, Angola has been heading for a crisis of social, economic and, above all, political legitimacy.

The popular movement for the release of Angola (MPLA) is in charge of the country during the five decades of independence.

There had been a certain hope that João Lourenço, who, in 2017, took the presidency of José Eduardo Dos Santos, 36 years in power, would change things.

He is now serving a second consecutive term after the 2022 elections.

Lourenço promised to revise what he considered the broken system inherited from his predecessor: to fight against corruption, to diversify the economy and create jobs.

Eight years later, criticisms argue that he failed to do so and has trouble managing the cost of living crisis – and although it drops slightly, the annual inflation rate remains high at around 18%. According to an AfroBarometer survey in 2024, 63% of Angolan say that the country’s economic situation has worsened compared to the previous year.

Young people have brought the weight of the problems and have been at the forefront of most anti-government demonstrations in recent years, on questions ranging from corruption and police brutality to local elections and hunger and poverty.

However, there was nothing corresponded to the July disorders scale.

Lea Komba, a 20 -year -old political science student, said that fuel demonstrations were “terrifying but somewhat awaited” given the country’s current reality.

“We live in a country where young people are ignored by people in power. Demonstrations are the only way to show dissatisfaction with the precarious conditions we face,” she said.

The Angolan government has adopted a different point of view.

A government official did not respond to a BBC request to comment on the demonstrations and their consequences, but in a national speech on August 1, President Lourenço clarified his feelings.

He condemned demonstrations such as “acts committed by irresponsible citizens, manipulated by national anti-patriotic organizations via social media, bringing mourning, destruction of public and private property, reduced access to essential goods and services and losses of jobs for the Angolan”.

Despite the repeated promises to diversify its economy, Angola remains dependent on oil and gas, which are by far the main exports of the country as well as the main source of government income.

“Natural resources are good, but the problem lies in how income is used,” said Angolan economist Francisco Paulo.

“If Angola followed models like Norway or Saudi Arabia, using oil wealth to strengthen non-petroleum sectors and develop their workforce, it would be a blessing. Unfortunately, revenues here are wasted on superficial expenditure without added value.”

After the departure of Dos Santos, Angola endured five consecutive years when the economy has shrunk between 2017 and 2021.

Growth only returned in 2022, widely driven by non -petroleum sectors. But recent growth had little impact on the life of most Angolan.

In a report this year, the World Bank estimated that more than a third of the lively population with less than $ 2.15 per day.

He said that while the economy was developing, it did not follow demographic growth, which means in average, people are poorer.

As independence celebrations approach, plans with music festivals, presidential medal ceremonies and a football match to include Argentinian Lionel Messi is in full swing.

But the student Ms. Komba questions the former socialist slogan “One People, One Nation”, invented in the Marxist-Leninist regime with a single party in the late 1970s.

“It is simply not true that we all share the same reality. There are enormous inequalities. Young people in the marginalized fields are almost sentenced to extreme poverty, without quality education or decent employment, even if they study hard and obtain a diploma,” she said.

“These young people think with their stomach, because hunger leaves them nothing to lose. They are the ones who have filled the streets.”

Komba added that “the authorities must examine the deep causes, not just the consequences”.

“Pillage was simply the way young people have found the attention of those in power.”

She thinks there could be more troubles.

“From now on until the 2027 elections, we will probably see more protests. Whether we like this or not, political conscience increases in Angola, and the elections are considered a crucial moment for a real change.”