Just as most other European countries were beginning to exit or disengage from their African colonies, Portugal dug in, strengthening its connections with and increasing its presence on the continent.  Angola was used as a repository for Portugal's underemployed and impoverished excess population, and settlers continued to flock to urban areas.  With the white population increasing from 44,000 in 1940 to 325,000 in 1974, Europeans soon took over not only upper and mid-level positions, but also most low-wage jobs in the city, displacing most of the urban African population.  The discovery of oil in the exclave of Cabinda in the 1960s and the continued development of coffee, cotton, and diamonds as viable exports, led to Angola having one of the most robust and diversified economies of Africa in this time.  Maintenance of these commercial activities was however highly dependent on European technicians and specialists and was almost completely controlled by these groups, preventing the majority of the population, who were largely engaged in subsistence farming or as laborers on commercial farms, from reaping the benefits of this wealth.