But it is crude oil rather than the flower variety that is the key to the economic future of Zaire province
A big tree stands in the centre of M'Banza Kongo, the provincial capital of Zaire. According to local legend, when a person sits in the shade of this tree, it starts to bleed in honor of the visitor. Some foreign visitors to M'Banza Kongo have spent the whole day sitting under the tree, waiting for it to bleed, as locals pass by with wry smiles on their faces.
The Arvore do Sangue or "bleeding tree" may not live up to expectations, but another plant, the simple sunflower, has come to represent great productivity and promise in this northern province. For Girassol or "Sunflower" is the name of a huge oil field discovered in Block 17 off the coast of Zaire in 1998, along with several other large deepwater deposits. Girassol is one of the largest oil fields in the world.
These discoveries have dramatically increased Angola's oil production capacity. Operated by TotalFinaElf, Block 17 is described by oil experts as Angola's "golden" block. The new discoveries have all been given the names of flowers – Jasmine, Orchid, Camellia, Tulip, Rose, Dahlia and Sunflower. And all of these florally named fields are predicted to yield rich supplies of oil.
Although Girassol is currently producing 203,000 barrels per day, this represents the tip of the iceberg. Its total reserves are estimated to be in the league of 725 million barrels. A further 300 million barrels are believed to exist slightly to the west of the Girassol oil field, still in Block 17.
Zaire Governor Ludy Kissassunda is confident that Girassol will increase the region's international exposure. "Girassol is like a business card for our province. Everybody in the world is talking about Girassol, and even asking where it is. So it will bring my province onto the world stage. We feel so lucky that the oil was discovered here – it could have been found anywhere in Angola!"
However, unlike Angola's other internaionally well-known oil province, Cabinda, in which the American oil company, ChevronTexaco, holds a virtual monopoly, Zaire hosts a number of companies including Exxon Mobil, BP Amoco and TotalFinaElf. All are based in the coastal town of Soyo.
Oil has also proved a mixed blessing for the province in terms of the civil war. Soyo became a prime target for UNITA because of its crude oil storage depots and onshore oil production sites. The then Belgian company Petrofina suspended onshore operations after UNITA attacked Soyo in 1993. Production did not resume until February 1996.
The fact that the province borders the Democratic Republic of Congo also made it vulnerable to attack from UNITA during the 1990s. "The province suffered a lot during the alliance between President Mobutu of Zaire and UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi in the 1990s. UNITA even briefly occupied Soyo and had a significant presence throughout the province. But the collapse of the Mobutu regime has changed everything because UNITA no longer has an ally across the border," says Ludy Kissassunda.
Sophisticated, closely knit society
The province of Zaire used to be part of the Kongo Kingdom. This ancient empire, which was founded near the mouth of the River Congo, was prosperous and powerful, eventually covering a vast area of central Africa. The heartland of the Kongo Kingdom lay in and around M'Banza Kongo, the present day capital of the province. The royal court was based in the town, which was the center for trade and other political and economic activities.
When the famous Portuguese explorer, Diogo Cao, first anchored at the point where the River Congo meets the Atlantic ocean in 1483, he found a sophisticated and closely-knit society living in the area. The king of the Kongo, Nzinga Mbemba, entered a brief but friendly period of partnership with the Portuguese. Ambassadors were exchanged with Lisbon, and in 1500, the king converted to Christianity. He was baptized King Affonso I.
A strong trade relationship developed between the Bakongo and the Portuguese, with slaves as the main commodity. Bakongo warriors raided the southern Mbundu territory for slaves, selling them to the Portuguese, who shipped them to Europe, Brazil and the sugar plantations on the island of Sao Tome.
However, King Affonso I soon discovered that the insatiable Portuguese appetite for slaves was destroying his own kingdom. The Portuguese traders had started undermining his authority by dealing directly with coastal chiefs. They had also started carrying off anybody they could lay their hands on, including members of the royal family. In 1526, he wrote a letter to Lisbon complaining about the "corruption and licentiousness" of the Portuguese slave traders, saying they were "completely depopulating" his kingdom.
Despite King Affonso's protestations, slaving remained the mainstay of the kingdom's economy. When the slave trade collapsed at the end of the eighteenth century, the Kongo Kingdom foundered, and the area entered a long period of decline.
When the Portuguese colonized Angola, they overlooked Zaire province because it was so remote from the country's major cities. At the time of Angola's independence, the province had become one of the most neglected areas in the country. It did not, for example, have a single hospital.
Development has remained slow in Zaire, despite the vast offshore oil reserves and the fertility of its soil. According to Ludy Kissassunda, investment is what is needed, "Not only are Zaire's waters rich in oil, they are also rich in fish. We could grow tomatoes, we could grow beans and rice, we could even have poultry farms, but only with investment. We also need foreign investments to build hospitals and a polytechnic where we could train local people to become petroleum engineers. In that way, we could become less dependent on foreign expertise."
One of the most moving sights in Angola is the point where the River Congo meets the sea. The roaring waters of the river thunder into the Atlantic Ocean. A truly memorable experience is to take a boat or helicopter trip to this point and relive the moment when in 1887 the British explorer, Sir Henry Morton Stanley, started his historical trip into the very heart of Africa. Impenetrable dramatic and full of promise – much like modern Zaire.
