HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço (born 5 March 1954) is an Angolan politician who is currently serving as the third president of Angola since 26 September 2017. Previously, he was the minister of defence from 2014 to 2017. In September 2018, he became the chairman of the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the ruling party. He was the party's secretary-general from 1998 to 2003. João Lourenço was designated in December 2016 to occupy the party's number one position in the August 2017 legislative election. In terms of the 2010 constitution, "the individual heading the national list of the political party or coalition of political parties which receives the most votes in general elections ... shall be elected President of the Republic and Head of the Executive" (Article 109). As the MPLA won a majority of 150 seats, Lourenço automatically became President of Angola, succeeding
José Eduardo dos Santos José Eduardo Van-Dúnem dos Santos (; 28 August 1942 – 8 July 2022) was an Angolan politician and military officer who served as the second president of Angola from 1979 to 2017. As president, dos Santos was also the commander-in-chief of th ...
, who had been in power for 38 years. Lourenço was officially sworn into office on 26 September 2017.


Early life

Born in 1954, Lourenço grew up in a politically engaged family of ten children. His father, Sequeira João Lourenço (1923–1999), a native of Malanje, was a doctor and nationalist, who served three years of imprisonment in
Portuguese Angola In southwestern Africa, Portuguese Angola was a historical Evolution of the Portuguese Empire, colony of the Portuguese Empire (1575–1951), the overseas province Portuguese West Africa of Estado Novo (Portugal), Estado Novo Portugal (1951–1 ...
for illegal political activity. His mother, Josefa Gonçalves Cipriano Lourenço (1928–1997), a seamstress, was a native of Namibe. He received both a primary and secondary Portuguese-language education in Bié Province and
Luanda Luanda ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Angola, largest city of Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Ang ...
.


Education and military career

Lourenço studied at the Industrial Institute of Luanda and later participated in the liberation struggle in Ponta Negra, in August 1974, where he was part of the first group of MPLA soldiers to enter Angolan territory via Miconge, towards the city of Cabinda after the fall of the Portuguese colonial regime. He began his military career fighting against the Portuguese in the Angolan War of Independence and fought as a member of the MPLA in the
Angolan Civil War The Angolan Civil War () was a civil war in Angola, beginning in 1975 and continuing, with interludes, until 2002. The war began immediately after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. It was a power struggle between two for ...
."Lourenco: Ex-general poised to be Angola's next leader"
, Agence France-Presse, 3 February 2017.
Lourenço conducted his training in artillery and then became a political officer in the MPLA. In 1978, Lourenço traveled to the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
and studied at the Lenin Military-Political Academy, where he furthered his military training and completed a master's degree in Historical Sciences. He later returned to Angola in 1982. Now an artillery general, Lourenço turned towards politics and in 1984 was appointed as Governor of
Moxico Province Moxico (Portuguese spelling) or Moshiko (Bantu spelling) is the largest Provinces of Angola, province of Angola. It used to have an area of , which corresponded to 18% of the landmass of Angola. The province has a population of 758,568 accordin ...
.


Political career

Lourenço's early politics were mainly confined within the MPLA as an officer responsible for keeping guerrilla soldiers' morale high. Following his appointment as Governor of
Moxico Province Moxico (Portuguese spelling) or Moshiko (Bantu spelling) is the largest Provinces of Angola, province of Angola. It used to have an area of , which corresponded to 18% of the landmass of Angola. The province has a population of 758,568 accordin ...
in 1984, he continued to rise through the ranks of the ruling party. He also served as the provincial commissioner of Moxico Province for the MPLA, president of the Regional Military Council of the 3rd Military Political Region, First Secretary of MPLA and Provincial Commissioner of Benguela Province. He was the MPLA's Secretary for Information from 1992 to 1997 and President of the MPLA Parliamentary Group in the
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...
from 1993 to 1998.Kumuênho da Rosa and João Dias
"João Lourenço é o candidato escolhido pelo MPLA"
, ''Jornal de Angola'', 4 February 2017 .
At a party congress, he was elected as Secretary-General of the MPLA on 12 December 1998. His election was said to be linked to the favour of President
José Eduardo dos Santos José Eduardo Van-Dúnem dos Santos (; 28 August 1942 – 8 July 2022) was an Angolan politician and military officer who served as the second president of Angola from 1979 to 2017. As president, dos Santos was also the commander-in-chief of th ...
and it was thought that Lourenço could potentially succeed the long-ruling dos Santos at some point. However, after dos Santos said in 2001 that he would not seek re-election as president, Lourenço openly expressed an interest in becoming the MPLA's presidential candidate and thereby damaged his standing with dos Santos, who apparently had no real intention of leaving office, but had sought to expose political rivals."Dos Santos at the helm"
, IRIN, 17 December 2003.
Juilão Mateus Paulo succeeded him as MPLA Secretary-General at a December 2003 party congress. Lourenço was First Vice-president of the National Assembly from 2003 to 2014. He was appointed as Minister of Defense in April 2014, and he was designated as vice-president of the MPLA in August 2016. In September 2018, he became the Chairman of the MPLA, replacing
José Eduardo dos Santos José Eduardo Van-Dúnem dos Santos (; 28 August 1942 – 8 July 2022) was an Angolan politician and military officer who served as the second president of Angola from 1979 to 2017. As president, dos Santos was also the commander-in-chief of th ...
. Lourenço is very close to Elliott Broidy. Through Broidy's firm Circinus, Broidy allegedly received $6 million in January 2017 for lobbying on behalf of the interests of Angola by arranging meetings with Angolans and several Republican United States Senators including Ron Johnson and Tom Cotton, fostering a closer relationship between Washington, and Luanda, attempting to arrange meetings among Lourenço and
Mike Pence Michael Richard Pence (born June 7, 1959) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 48th vice president of the United States from 2017 to 2021 under President Donald Trump. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Repub ...
and
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
and allowing Lourenço to attend a September 2017 event at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club of which Broidy is a member, however, Lourenço did not attend. In December 2016, the MPLA designated Lourenço as the party's top candidate in the 2017 legislative election. He was elected president of Angola on 23 August 2017 and took office on 26 September becoming the third president in the country's history. On 8 September 2018, he was elected president of the MPLA, Angola's ruling party since 1975, becoming its 5th party leader. In June 2018, Lourenço legalised Angola's first LGBT collective. The following January, he replaced the 1886 colonial law banning homosexual acts, and prohibited discrimination against LGBT people. The reforms also permitted
abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...
in cases of rape or danger to mother or fetus. He has served as President of the African Union since February 15, 2025. Prior to this, he served as a mediator in resolving the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Lourenço also mediated an agreement with Gabonese president Brice Oligui Nguema that allowed for the latter's predecessor, Ali Bongo, whom he had overthrown and imprisoned in the 2023 Gabonese coup d'état, to go into exile in Angola.


Personal life

He is married to Ana Afonso Dias Lourenço, a Member of Parliament of the MPLA and former Minister of Planning, who held a position at the
World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...
in Washington D.C. until October 2016. They have six children, all of whom are currently active in the MPLA. Apart from his indigenous
Umbundu Umbundu, or South Mbundu (autonym ''úmbúndú''), one of many Bantu languages, is the most widely-spoken autochthonous language of Angola. Its speakers are known as ''Ovimbundu'' and are an ethnic group constituting a third of Angola's populati ...
language and Portuguese, he speaks Russian, Spanish, and English. He is popularly nicknamed "Ti Mimoso"Catarina Machado
"Luaty Beirão está 'malaike' com exoneração de Isabel dos Santos."
'' TVI 24.'' 16 November 2017. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
and "JLo".


Honours


Foreign honours

* : ** Collar of the Order of the Southern Cross (25 August 2023) * : ** 1st Class of the (16 March 2022) * : ** Order of José Martí (1 July 2019) * : ** Grand Officer of the
Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...
(16 January 2025) *: ** Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit (30 July 2021) * : ** Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the
Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic () is the most senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of Italy, President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking honour of the Republi ...
(19 May 2023) * ** Grand Cross of the National Order of the Ivory Coast (28 June 2024) * : ** First Class of the Order of the Most Ancient Welwitschia mirabilis (4 May 2018) * : ** Grand Collar of the
Order of Prince Henry The Order of Prince Henry () is a Portuguese order of knighthood created on 2 June 1960, to commemorate the quincentenary of the death of the Portuguese ''infante'' Prince Henry the Navigator, one of the main initiators of the Age of Discovery. M ...
(22 November 2018) *: ** Grand Cross of the National Order of the Lion (23 October 2022) * ** 2nd class of the Order of the Republic of Serbia (15 February 2022) *: ** Order of South Africa (12 December 2024) *: ** Collar of the Order of Civil Merit (31 January 2023)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lourenco, Joao 1954 births 20th century in Angola 20th-century Angolan politicians 21st-century Angolan politicians Living people Angolan Roman Catholics MPLA politicians Politicians from Luanda People of the Angolan Civil War Defence ministers of Angola Governors of Benguela Governors of Moxico Presidents of Angola Leaders of political parties in Angola Angolan expatriates in the Soviet Union Lenin Military Political Academy alumni Angolan military personnel