Africa's second-longest-ruling leader says he will step down

In power since 1979, Angola's Jose Eduardo dos Santos is just a month shy of being the longest-serving leader in Africa (Teodoro Obiang Neguema of Equatorial Guinea holds the record). On Friday, Dos Santos told his ruling Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) party's politburo that he will "quit political life in 2018," a year after his current five-year term ends. Dos Santos has a firm grip on power in the southwestern African nation; he is head of the military, police, and government, and appoints senior judges and other agency heads.

Angola observers are not convinced that Dos Santos, 73, will actually cede power, noting that he has promised to leave office two other times and not followed through. Friday's announcement is "no assurance that one of Africa's longest heads of state will finally step down," Oxford University Angola expert Paula Roque told AFP. "What he is saying by announcing that he will step down in 2018 is that he will run in the next poll and then decide if the country is stable enough to step down."

Analysts suggest that Dos Santos is testing the waters and possibly preparing for a transfer of power for one of his children or somebody else who won't disturb the vast business empire his family has set up over his 37 years in power. His daughter Isabel dos Santos is listed as Africa's wealthiest woman, AFP notes, adding that despite Angola's oil and diamond wealth, most of the country lives in poverty.

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