angola: angola's missing millions

BP's accounts will in future be scrutinised with more care than usual because they could alter the fortunes of a country. Last year, BP announced it would publish annually the amount it paid to the Angolan government for oil it extracted from Angolan waters. This seemingly innocuous statement produced an extraordinary response from Sonangol, the Angolan state oil company, which sent BP a letter full of veiled threats about what might happen if it published the information. What, one might ask, do they have to hide? Well, last year, one third of Angola's state income - $1bn -appears to have gone missing. Some 87% of state income is from oil. No one knows where the money has gone because of the government's and Sonangol's secretiveness.