The latest book by Carlos Lopes, a renowned economist, comes as a painful wake-up call. Titled ‘The Trap of Self-Delusion: Exploring the Economic Dimensions of Dependency on Charity in Africa-Europe Relations,’ the professor, who, in the mid-2010s, while serving as Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), helped bring the often-overlooked debate of Africa’s integration and industrialization onto the Agenda 2063 of the African Union Commission. The book addresses the persistently unbalanced relations between the European Union and its subordinate, the African Union, in a calm yet scientific and factual manner.
As a former high representative of the African Union in negotiations with the European Union, Carlos quickly encountered a form of passive aggression from the negotiators of the old continent. Understandably so, since he advocated for a unified approach instead of the ACP agreements with Europe, an example of the continent’s Balkanization (North Africa is not part of this framework, which, moreover, could not coexist with the AfCFTA). The Bissau-Guinean eventually threw in the towel. This book presents a well-documented perspective and offers solutions to help Africa break free from this age-old dependency.
