( CNN ) -- Ten years after the end of its civil war , Angola , which is heading to the polls Friday , has been transformed into a regional African power with a strong economy , but poverty is still widespread . Angola experienced double digit growth in GDP annually in the period 2002-2008 . In the last five of these years , average annual growth was at 17 % , which more than doubled the size of the economy . The country is the second largest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa , and the third biggest economy , after South Africa and Nigeria . Do these tremendous growth rates mean that Angola has escaped the so-called resource curse , where oil resources are detrimental to growth ? Is Angola likely to continue growing at these fast rates , and perhaps catch up to the largest economies in the region in a few years ' time ? Is Angola a success in terms of development and poverty reduction ? It is not uncommon for countries that come out of a civil war to grow at very high rates . The growth seen in the period 2002-2008 may thus reflect the end of the civil war in 2002 . Read related : Post-war generation emerges as Angola votes . If there is a tendency to blame all that is wrong in Angola on its war legacy , perhaps the end of the war should be credited for things that have been going well ? It is always problematic to speculate about future growth rates . After 2009 , growth has dropped to around 3 % per year and projections for the coming years are in the range 5-8 % . There are many reasons for this significant drop , the financial crisis and oil price development are part of the explanation . But in the longer perspective , there may be more fundamental structural challenges to Angolan growth and development . In particular , research shows that resource-rich countries with little political accountability have trouble converting resources into development . Angola scores still low on governance indicators , and the coming elections seem unlikely to challenge the over 30-year-long reign of President Jose Eduardo dos Santos . Watch : Angola 's economic potential . The fact the Angolan economy is the most concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa also makes growth vulnerable . The profitability of the oil sector renders diversification difficult in any economy . But is the Angolan government really trying to diversify ? An important question is how government reliance on oil rents affects political incentives to diversify the economy . Business environment indicators for the country remain poor , while investment is hampered by a lack of education and institutional challenges . Do the poor care about the overall growth rate of the Angolan economy ? Experience shows that growth reduces poverty less in countries with high initial inequality . And oil-driven growth in a country with low political accountability is susceptible to wealth concentration rather than redistribution . Employment in the oil sector is typically also too limited to produce widespread economic opportunities . Read also : Ghana 's oil discovery : blessing or curse ? We really do n't know too much about the situation of the poor in Angola today . The last real census in the country was conducted in 1970 . The last figures on poverty are from 2000 , putting the proportion of people living on less than $ 1.25 a day at 54 % . Angola ranks as 148 out of 187 countries on the Human Development index . Based on a household sample , INE estimated a poverty rate of 37 % in 2008 . However , it is difficult to assess how the poverty line was constructed . As data is not directly comparable to previous studies , it is also problematic to analyze development over time . In spite of this , the President claims that the poverty rate has been reduced from 70 to 37 % from 2002 to 2008 . A census is due to be held next year . Interestingly , but perhaps not surprisingly , it takes place after the coming elections . Some data of a more limited nature do provide a window onto the situation of the poor in Angola . In 2010 , the Angolan NGO Development Workshop and the Chr . Michelsen Institute conducted a survey of microcredit clients in Luanda . Results suggest that business profitability among the poor is constrained by a lack of education and health and by corruption . This indicates that the factors that restrain dynamism in non-oil segments of the Angolan economy , also act as constraints on the very survival of the urban poor . Without structural and political reforms of these constraints , it is hard to believe that an election in and of itself will change the lives of the poor . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Arne Wiig and Ivar Kolstad .
Oil - rich Angola is holding its second peacetime elections on Tuesday . The country has experienced strong growth in the years after the end of its civil war . Resource - rich countries with little political stability have trouble investing resources into development . Business growth among the poor is constrained by lack of education and health care .