Soon after his election, the President of Angola signaled his intent to tackle corruption, diversify and grow the economy, and build a new relationship with the US.
Historically, the US-Angola relationship was fraught with misunderstandings and disagreements. Achieving the President’s vision therefore required fundamental shifts in both governments’ foreign policies. This, in turn, demanded a comprehensive strategy to identify where Angolan and US priorities potentially aligned, determine those issues on which accommodations could be made by either side to reach agreement, and then drive the engagement along defined pillars that would deepen bilateral ties.
Building a profound record of accomplishments to enhance Angola’s profile
With over half a century of experience representing the unique interests of over 100 sovereign governments and entities, Squire Patton Boggs was ideally positioned to support the Angolan President’s vision. Since our earliest work counseling newly independent states entering the United Nations in the early 1960s, our experience spans developing and executing comprehensive strategies to advance a government’s policy and development objectives, negotiating trade and other bilateral agreements, helping improve a country’s business climate, attracting foreign investment and resolving disputes.
Squire Patton Boggs designed and implemented a disciplined strategy to help the Angolan government advance its economic and development objectives by transforming its relationship with the US. Leveraging a multidisciplinary team across three successive US administrations, we assisted the President in elevating nearly all aspects of the bilateral relationship – diplomatic, commercial, military and cultural – to their highest levels in decades. These efforts resulted in a heads of state meeting in the Oval Office, the first ever US presidential visit to Angola and billions of dollars of US investment in the country.