The reasons for Portuguese colonialism in Africa, 1822-1975

Abstract

The motives for building the Portuguese empire in Africa varied considerably throughout the period in review in this article. From 1822 to 1892 the successive Lisbon governments defended its interests in Africa without any great economic benefits, but also without major costs. During this period the reasons for colonization were of an essentially political nature. With the creation of the customs tariff from 1892 onwards, which was made possible by the definition of the frontiers that preceded it, the African colonies became a source of foreign currency for the Portuguese economy. This article argues that the financial benefits from the colonies were of such magnitude that they outweighed any negative economic effects of colonizing Africa. Moreover, such benefits constituted a motive for the Portuguese government to bank increasingly heavily on the African colonies. The economic links between Portugal and the colonies were revived and re-outlined by the Colonial Act of 1930 and were only to fade in the 1960s as both Portugal's links with other European economies and the colonies' links with the rest of the world gradually became stronger. The opening up of the empire to the outside world was also accompanied by liberalization within the empire through the creation of the Portuguese economic area in 1962. Such transformations, together with the decline caused by the wars of independence, formed the scenario for the end of the empire in 1975.