Why did the government pursue reform and what does it amount to?...The cherry-picked technical measures amounted to upgrades of the status quo...Ten years later, the individuals and social groups at the centre of the behaviour denounced by the likes of Global Witness are more empowered, safer and richer than ever...The contribution of the IMF and a number of Angolan technocrats towards macro-economic reform is undeniable. What is missing from the IMF’s assessment is the fact that the reforms have had next to no impact on the elite’s approach to development and the real lives of the poor...A lesson of the Angolan reform trajectory is self-evident yet frequently forgotten: transparency is merely a means to an end...You can have an oil-rich state tick all the boxes and come out on the other side without this having any implications whatsoever for the nature of governance and broad-based development. [refers to Sonangol]