Associação de Escuteiros de Angola the Southern Zone of the Africa Region. Although Scouting is growing, the country is plagued by years of civil war and political unrest, and this is hindering development, especially in rural areas. Angolan Scouting was widespread in the colonial years, working closely with Portugal's Catholic Corpo Nacional de Escutas. When Angola gained its independence in 1975 and came under Marxist rule, Scouting was banned by that government. Scouting was officially started again in February 1991. In 1994, the interreligious "Associação Nacional de Escuteiros" and the Catholic "Associação de Escuteiros Católicos de Angola" merged forming the AEA. Today, Scouting includes an
Economy of Angola Economy of Angola The Economy of Angola is one of the fastest-growing in the world, with reported annual average GDP growth of 11.1 percent from 2001 to 2010. It is still recovering from 27 years of the civil war that plagued the country from its independence in 1975 to 2002. Despite extensive oil and gas resources, diamonds, hydroelectric potential, and rich agricultural land, Angola remains poor, and a third of the population relies on subsistence agriculture. Since 2002, when the 27-year civil war ended, the nation has worked to repair and improve ravaged infrastructure and weakened political and social institutions.