11-14-05,8:29am

LUANDA, 10 Nov 2005 (IRIN) - As Angola prepares to mark 30 years of independence from Portugal on Friday, citizens of this war-damaged country are ready to embrace the occasion, but say the past three and a half years of peace are much more important.

The 14-year battle for independence from the Portuguese had just drawn to a close in 1975, when the country was plunged into a brutal civil war between the ruling MPLA and the rebel group, UNITA, which claimed almost a million lives before it ended in April 2002.

'Yes, of course we should celebrate our 30 years of independence - thirty years is a long time. But frankly, I think the end of the [civil] war changed a lot more for us than independence ever did,' said domestic worker Odette, who was only 10 years old when the Portuguese left Angola.

'For most of us, life got harder and harder during the [civil] war years. Independence did not help us realise our dreams, but now we are at peace we can start hoping for a better future,' she added.

Conflict brought with it poverty, landmines and displacement, while the devastation of infrastructure continues to pose huge challenges to development.

The statistics speak for themselves - Angola is ranked at 160 out of 177 countries in the UN Development Programme's Human Development Index, which focuses on three measurable indicators of human development: living a long and healthy life; being educated; and having a decent standard of living.

Most people scrape by on less than US $1.70 a day, and one in every four children dies before reaching its fifth birthday in sub-Saharan Africa's second largest oil producer.

With 70 percent of Angola's population aged under 24, few people can recall Portuguese rule, but as the red and black national flag is hoisted across the capital, Luanda, and fairy-lights go up in preparation for Friday's celebrations, young Angolans share optimism for the future.

'I do hope my life will improve,' said Pedro, a street vendor born in Angola's year of independence, who sells fake designer watches.

'But if it does not get better for me, I hope my children at least can have better lives when they grow up: go to school, get good jobs and have a future,' added the father of three.

The civil war dashed all the hopes that independence had offered. 'In theory we should be celebrating 30 years of independence, but in practice we are only beginning to celebrate it now,' said Cornelio Caley, a professor in African sociology and history at Luanda's Agostinho Neto University, named after the president who led the liberation and died in 1979.

'Angolans were waiting for the day when the [Portuguese] occupation would finish. It formally ended in 1975, but then we had the [civil] war in which we lost at least an entire generation,' Caley recalled.

With the growth rate soaring to 16 percent this year and expected to skyrocket to 28 percent in 2006, Angolans have a lot to celebrate.

Investors are looking at the country with mounting interest - the National Private Investment Agency (ANIP) signed $180 million worth of non-oil and diamond deals in the first half of this year alone.

Ari de Carvalho, head of ANIP, believes his country is now beginning to demonstrate its independent spirit. 'Most of the world looked on us as a bunch of people who fought and are corrupt, but I can say this very proudly - we achieved peace on our own when everyone told us we would continue to fight.'

Others say the fruits of this prosperity need to be shared equally. 'There is too much corruption here; there needs to be less corruption so that we can all have better lives,' said one student, requesting anonymity.

But the government insists it is doing as much as it can to improve the lives of Angolans.

'No country in Africa is building more schools in a year, in a month, than Angola; no country is hiring more teachers, more health people in a month, in a year, than Angola. What else do people expect the government to do?' said Finance Minister Jose Pedro de Morais.

'Of course, to improve social indicators ... it takes many years ... It's unfair to say, 'in spite of your growth your social indicators are weak'. Of course they are weak. But we are doing much more, much better,' he commented.

Many Angolans see this year's anniversary as a new beginning for the entire country.

'People always celebrate 10-, 20-, 30-year anniversaries, but this is not just a round number,' said Paolo Monteiro, who works in the financial services sector. 'This tastes a lot better because we do not have one single conflict. As an Angolan, this is the first time we really have true peace.'

Caley conceded that while life in Angola was far from perfect, there were plenty of reasons to look forward to the future.

'For the first time in our history we can see the light at the end of the tunnel,' he said. 'From now, we are starting to rebuild a new life. Our children from now will never experience the situation which we experienced. It is like planting a new tree in the land, a new building with new foundations.'