{"id":9503,"date":"2025-11-05T20:27:30","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T20:27:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.negociosdeangola.com\/joao-goncalves-considera-a-zona-de-comercio-livre-africana-decretos-sem-valor-nenhum\/"},"modified":"2025-11-05T20:30:26","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T20:30:26","slug":"joao-goncalves-calls-african-free-trade-area-worthless-decrees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.negociosdeangola.com\/en\/joao-goncalves-calls-african-free-trade-area-worthless-decrees\/","title":{"rendered":"Jo\u00e3o Gon\u00e7alves Calls African Free Trade Area \u201cWorthless Decrees\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

International relations specialist Jo\u00e3o Gon\u00e7alves considers the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) \u2014 which Angola officially joined in June \u2014 to be \u201cdecrees with no value at all,\u201d citing the lack of political will and cooperation among African leaders. In an interview with Valor Econ\u00f3mico<\/em>, the scholar said the continent remains hostage to internal divisions and the influence of foreign powers, preventing genuine economic integration.<\/p>\n

According to Gon\u00e7alves, the absence of road and rail infrastructure between countries is the main obstacle to the AfCFTA. \u201cWe have no connected routes. The African ego, the unwillingness to connect with others, is the real problem,\u201d he argued, adding that the Free Trade Area \u201cis just paper \u2014 decrees without value.\u201d<\/p>\n

The expert further stated that Angola should invest first in the Lobito Corridor, to enhance export potential and strengthen regional connections. \u201cWe must invest in ourselves. If we don\u2019t, other countries will occupy the space,\u201d he warned, referring to the growing interest of the United States, China, and Rwanda in the region.<\/p>\n

Gon\u00e7alves also expressed concern over the military build-up in Rwanda and the DRC, which he sees as a direct threat to Angola\u2019s security. \u201cThe DRC is a major threat. We must strengthen our army and arm it to the teeth,\u201d he said, revealing that foreign engineers and soldiers are operating in the region under disguise, including \u201cRwandans trained in Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a critical tone, the specialist denounced what he called a lack of patriotism and national consciousness in Angola, linking it to the social crisis and the ongoing brain drain. \u201cWe\u2019re losing talent to Portugal. That\u2019s not patriotism,\u201d he lamented.<\/p>\n

Gon\u00e7alves also emphasized the need to diversify the economy, focusing on agriculture and education. Comparing Angola with Asian economies, he noted that \u201cthe Asian Tigers developed based on patriotism and discipline.\u201d He suggested Angola should follow that example, \u201cstarting small, with agriculture and strong education.\u201d<\/p>\n

The scholar also criticized Angola\u2019s foreign debt dependency on China. \u201cWe\u2019re paying the price. When you owe money, you become a slave to the lender,\u201d he said, accusing China of engaging in dumping<\/em> and harming domestic industries.<\/p>\n

On political matters, Gon\u00e7alves warned that instability in countries like Rwanda, the DRC, and Mozambique stems from foreign influence and power struggles, which could threaten regional security. \u201cThe African Union is a shadow of itself, dependent on external funding. It\u2019s hard to act independently that way,\u201d he argued.<\/p>\n

The expert concluded with an appeal for deep reform of African institutions and stronger internal leadership. \u201cWithout patriotism and national awareness, Africa will continue to be governed from the outside,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

International relations specialist Jo\u00e3o Gon\u00e7alves considers the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) \u2014 which Angola officially joined in June \u2014 to be \u201cdecrees with no value at all,\u201d citing the lack of political will and cooperation among African leaders. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":9501,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[92,79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-first-block"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.negociosdeangola.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.negociosdeangola.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.negociosdeangola.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.negociosdeangola.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.negociosdeangola.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9503"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.negociosdeangola.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9503\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9505,"href":"https:\/\/www.negociosdeangola.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9503\/revisions\/9505"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.negociosdeangola.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.negociosdeangola.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.negociosdeangola.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.negociosdeangola.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}