$32 bn vanishes from oil-rich Angola’s state coffers

A staggering $32 billion is missing from the state coffers of Angola, a nation that is steeped in poverty, blatant social inequality, and among the worst-ranked in the world for its life expectancy, infant mortality and corruption.

New York-based Human Rights Watch yesterday said that the government of Angola should promptly provide a full public accounting for $32 billion in missing government funds, thought to be linked to the country's state oil company Sonangol.

The revelation comes the same week that Angola announced yet another huge offshore oil find and after it awarded licenses to operate oil blocks on Tuesday to seven major oil companies - France's Total, UK's BP, Norwegian firm Statoil, Italy's ENI, Spain's Repsol and US firms Cobalt and ConocoPhilips.

Human Rights Watch said the missing money was identified by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in a December report as part of its review under its $1.4 billion standby loan.

The missing money includes $7.1 billion transferred into escrow accounts overseas and $24.9 billion that appear as "an unexplained discrepancy in government accounts."

The IMF revealed that the government funds were spent or transferred from 2007 through 2010 without being properly documented in the budget. The sum is equivalent to one-quarter of the country's Gross Domestic Product.