NAÇÃO
ANGOLA
state of the nation
COCKTAIL DA DESIGUALDADE: MENOS EMPREGOS, MAIS POBREZA INEQUALITY COCKTAIL: FEWER JOBS, MORE POVERTY As promessas feitas pelo MPLA, que venceu o sufrágio - com João Lourenço como cabeça-de-lista -, durante as eleições de 2017 tardam em sair do papel, num contexto de dificuldades económicas e sociais. Entre as mais reclamadas pelo eleitorado está a criação dos 500 mil empregos. The 2017 election promises made by the MPLA (election winner) - with João Lourenço as the lead candidate - are yet to become a reality, in a country plague by economic and social difficulties. One of the promises the electorate most complains about is the creation of 500,000 jobs. TEXTO TEXT SEBASTIÃO VEMBA E AND WILSON CHIMOCO FOTOGRAFIA PHOTO ISTOCKPHOTO E AND JA IMEGENS
“pobreza e desemprego são o cocktail perfeito para o incremento da desigualdade, podendo essa tornar-se no rastilho para perturbações sociais expressivas e graves”, escreveu o economista Alves da Rocha, num contributo para o grupo social do Conselho Económico e Social, organismo que trabalha directamente com o Presidente da República, João Lourenço, a quem faculta contribuições de vária ordem para as
32
decisões políticas. Noutro artigo, recentemente publicado no jornal “Valor Económico”, o também director do Centro de Estudos e ,QYHVWLJD©¥R &LHQW¯ΚFD &(,& GD Universidade Católica de Angola 8&$1 HVFUHYHX TXH R ˕GHVHPprego, a falta de oportunidades, a recessão económica, a degradação ambiental e a desigualdade de rendimentos resultaram na criação de um incrível exército GH SREUHV HVWLPDGR HP GD
população total, correspondente D PDLV GH PLOK·HV GH SHVVRDV relativamente a quem o Estado criou uma verdadeira dívida social, seguramente mais elevada, em relação ao PIB, do que a dívida do Governo, contraída em nome do Estado, mas sem efeitos de retorno visíveis e consolidados”. A análise do economista é apenas D YLV¥R PDLV FLHQW¯ΚFD GH XP HSLsódio dramático a que se assiste diariamente quando abrimos os
“poverty and unemployment make the perfect cocktail for the increase of inequality, which can become the fuse for sigQLΚFDQW DQG VHULRXV VRFLDO GLVturbances,” wrote economist Alves da Rocha, in article intended to be a contribution to the social group of the Economic and Social Council, a body that works directly with President João Lourenço and from whom he receives advice on various issues for political decisions. In another article, recently published in the newspaper Valor Económico, the director of the Center for Studies and ScientiΚF 5HVHDUFK &(,& RI WKH &DWKRlic University of Angola wrote that “unemployment, lack of opportunities, economic recession, environmental degradation and income inequality have resulted in the creation of an incredible army of poor SHRSOH HVWLPDWHG DW RI WKH total population, i.e., more than PLOOLRQ SHRSOH 7KH JRYHUnment has a real social debt with those people, certainly higher in relation to the GDP than the debt contracted on behalf of the state, but without visible and consolidated return HΙHFWV Alves da Rocha’s analysis is RQO\ WKH PRVW VFLHQWLΚF YLHZ of a dramatic episode we witness every day when we open the gates of our yards, or when we are stuck in traΜF DQG SODWRRQV RI WKDW DUP\ of poor people run towards us asking for help with food because they are starving. In other words, in four years, the economy has stayed in the same recession course of the previous two years, and this poor performance, in addition to destroying jobs and forcing thousands of companies to close, has caused the economy to shrink. As a result, the country has gone from being the third largest economy in Southern $IULFD ZLWK D *'3 RI ELOOLRQ 86' LQ WR EHLQJ WKH VHYHQWK ZLWK D *'3 RI ELOOLRQ 86' LQ 7KLV SHUformance led to the increase www.economiaemercado.co.ao | Agosto 2021 August 2021
