CESA
Working Paper 1/1984: Uma experiência de integração económica em África
Abstract:
The Working Papers collection consists of short monographs written by members and collaborators of CEsA/CSG/ISEG/ULisboa. These documents are provisional and aim to provide elements of information and scientific reflection on economic and social issues object of research of this Centre. ECOWAS – Uma experiência de integração económica em África , started as a 1983-1984 report by Eugénio Inocêncio and Manuel Ennes Ferreira in the subject of International Economic Organizations (5th year) taught by Dr. César Cortes in the Degree in Economics. Later on, its authors restructured the initial text in order to integrate it in this collection. It is this second modified version that is reproduced here. The work seeks to build a historical and current framework of ECOWAS, and provide elements that serve as a starting point for monitoring its evolution. Although not intending to be a theoretical study on integration in Africa, care was taken to organize the data considered to be the most relevant to include a set of more abstract aspects such as: i) regional leadership relationship (Lagos/Dakar •Abidjan); ii) changes in the world economy and economic integration in Africa; iii) economic integration in Africa and African economic nationalism (regionalism).
Quotation:
Inocêncio, Eugénio e Manuel Ennes Ferreira .1984. “Uma experiência de integração económica em África”. Instituto Superior de Economia. CEsA – Documento de Trabalho nº 1/84.
2nd Meeting of Young Lusophone Commonwealth Researchers on Africa 2022 is open for registrations
CEsA (CSG/ISEG/ULisboa) will hold between the 25th and 27th of May 2022, at the Lisbon School of Economics and Management (ISEG/ULisboa), in Lisbon, the II Encontro de Jovens Investigadores da CPLP sobre África 2022 (2nd Meeting of Young Lusophone Commonwealth Researchers on Africa 2022). The 2nd edition of the Meeting has already announced the program (click HERE) and registration is open (register HERE). The event will take place in a hybrid format (in person at ISEG, in Lisbon, and online), with free admission and in Portuguese.
About the event
In this 2nd year, the II EJICPLP on Africa consolidates itself as a space for the promotion and dissemination of works of young researchers in the field of African Studies in Portuguese Language to discuss science in a multidisciplinary perspective on Africa.
Celebrating the International Day of Africa, which is celebrated on May 25th, the 2nd edition of the Meeting has INNOVATION as its theme, with the aim of discussing the role of science in innovation in Africa. It aims to deepen and know to what extent scientific research on Africa has produced or brought innovation to the African continent, as well as discuss the possible need to reformulate issues and methodologies of scientific research, in an innovative and pragmatic perspective, which allows the appropriation of the results of these studies in the daily lives of African societies.
About the programme
The programme has two daily moments, being the mornings dedicated to renowned specialists in the geographies where Portuguese is spoken, in a debate of ideas at the highest level and the afternoons dedicated to the presentation of scientific papers by researchers from the various countries of the CPLP giving voice and promoting new research studies.
We highlight the presence of distinct personalities from across the CPLP, such as Filomeno Forte (Angola), Marina Alkatir (East Timor), Leila Leite Hernandéz (Brazil), Miguel de Barros (Guinea Bissau), Fernando Jorge Cardoso (Portugal) and Isabel Castro Henriques (Portugal), among several others, reinforcing the principles of diversity, inclusion and representativeness of all Portuguese-speaking countries.
The topics under analysis are multidisciplinary and address issues such as: Empowerment of African women (25 May); Bringing scientific research closer to the agenda of political decision-makers (25 May); Financial and energy innovation in research in Africa (26 May); Innovation with tradition (26 May); and the scientific framework of the African Lisbon Route (27 May).
Watch the promotional video below (in Portuguese):
2nd Meeting of Young Lusophone Commonwealth Researchers on Africa 2022
May 25, 26 and 27, 2022, at ISEG/ULisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
Hybrid format (in person and online)
Free admission upon registration.
Visit the website.
For further information, please contact us.
Facebook
LinkedIn.
You Tube.
The Political Economy of the European Peripheries Summer School 2022 is accepting applications until May 13
The Political Economy of the European Peripheries Summer School 2022 is accepting applications until May 13. Abstracts should be submitted using a form (click here). The event will take place in Avis, Portugal, from July 3rd to 7th, 2022, and is supported by CEsA (CSG/ISEG/ULisboa). The complete program and more information can be found on the event’s website (click here).
About the event
The Political Economy of the European Peripheries Summer School 2022 – Varieties of Peripheralization aims to assess and discuss the variegated dynamics of peripheralization, which are being shaped and reshaped by processes of global and regional integration, of structural transformation and of imbalances, viz-à-viz the center. Theoretically, it will revisit and combine hitherto unconnected strands of the relevant literature, mobilizing concepts like core, periphery and semi-periphery, structural transformation or cumulative causation, recognizing the asymmetric configuration of the European integration process or the uneven and dependent trajectories of development, and the renewed interest in industrial policy and the state’s role, which was magnified by ongoing crises.
The Political Economy of the European Peripheries Summer School 2022 – Varieties of Peripheralization is aimed at Master and PhD students, or young researchers in an early stage of their careers. Participants will have the opportunity to engage with leading scholars and peers, through work and discussion in groups, and to present and discuss their own research and their research papers. Informal moments of conversation will be promoted. The working language of the Summer School is English.
The Summer School promotes reflection on the variegated dynamics of peripheralization with a group of national and international scientists in an interdisciplinary perspective, developing a close relationship between science, society and culture. The Summer School, taking place in Avis, includes some of its activities in articulation with non-academic speakers, institutional actors of the territory and artists.
Author: CEsA Communications team (comunicacao@cesa.iseg.ulisboa.pt) with information from EcPol
Image: EcPol/Reproduction
Class, politics and dynamic accumulation processes around the Sino-Mozambican rice project in the lower Limpopo, 2005–2014
Class, politics and dynamic accumulation processes around the Sino-Mozambican rice project in the lower Limpopo, 2005–2014 by Ana Sofia Ganho levels a Marxist political economy lens at the development of the Sino-Mozambican rice project in the lower Limpopo valley. Focusing on a defined time period, 2005–14, it interrogates the ways that class dynamics shaped, and were shaped by, China’s development cooperation model for Mozambique, and examines changing Mozambican accumulation interests in the context of sudden price rises in agricultural commodities. The article aims to understand how this project relates to Mozambique’s dominant strategy for capital accumulation, such as the dynamics it has enabled for capitalist factions in power. But it also seeks to comprehend the rural differentiation dynamics that the project has generated, particularly with regard to the desideratum to create a new group of rural capitalists. Together with historically situated challenges, this can provide crucial information about the form(s) that the agrarian question of transition to a capitalist agriculture is taking in Mozambique.
Abstract:
This study levels an international political economy lens at the development of the Sino-Mozambican rice project in the lower Limpopo, by examining how class relations shaped and were shaped by global trends, Chinese resources and Mozambican dynamic accumulation interests. The paper argues that the project has served the expansionist interests of the ruling capitalist group associated with central government circles, limiting land-based possibilities at province level. In addition, the plan to locally transform small producers into rural capitalists through ‘modern’ Chinese methods has failed to confront the historical interdependence of the commercial and so-called family sectors and the diversity of livelihood sources for the reproduction of food and labour.
Quotation:
Ganho, Ana Sofia (2022) Class, politics and dynamic accumulation processes around the Sino-Mozambican rice project in the lower Limpopo, 2005–2014, Review of African Political Economy, 49:171, 107-137, DOI: 10.1080/03056244.2022.2050557
Access the article here.
Financialization, narrow specialization of production and capital accumulation in Mozambique
In post-independence Mozambique, national capitalism developed from the ashes of state-centred accumulation built around the dominant social structures of production that were inherited from colonialism. These very specific historical conditions weighed heavily on the structures of accumulation, which later were subjected to neoliberal economic reforms, becoming heavily dependent on inflows of private international finance and resulting in growing financialisation of the economy and of the state, alongside increasingly narrow specialisation of production. Narrow specialisation, also called primarisation, consists in the reduction of the number of industries, sectors, activities and products; the concentration of production and trade around a smaller range of primary commodities for export; increasingly basic and simple production processes, products and levels of processing and articulation; and fewer options and capabilities to promote linkages. In turn, financialisation and primarisation reinforced each other in an increasingly speculative mode of accumulation. Starting from the specific analysis of the historical logic of the mode of capital accumulation in Mozambique (Castel-Branco, 2022), Financialization, narrow specialization of production and capital accumulation in Mozambique by Carlos Nuno Castel-Branco and Diogo Maia will demonstrate the dynamics of financialisation and of the growing primarisation of production, and the connection between the two.
Abstract:
The article argues that the historical conditions under which national capitalism developed in post-independence Mozambique pushed the economy towards growing financialisation and narrower specialisation of production around increasingly basic and simple activities. The paper argues that changing these dynamics of accumulation requires conscious industrial strategies focused on diversification and articulation of production, which cannot be achieved without challenging the extractive mode of accumulation and the power relationships associated with it.
Quotation:
Castel-Branco, Carlos Nuno; and Diogo Maia. 2022. “Financialization, narrow specialization of production and capital accumulation in Mozambique”. Review of African Political Economy, VOL. 49, NO. 171, 46-66 https://doi.org/10.1080/03056244.2022.2049143
Access the article here.
Mozambique – neither miracle nor mirage
Mozambique – neither miracle nor mirage by Carlos Nuno Castel-Branco and Elisa Greco explores how over two decades, in the 1990s and 2000s, international organisations, development cooperation agencies, financial institutions and the media often described the Mozambican economic, social and political trajectory as a ‘miracle’. Hailed as the ‘rising star’ of Africa in 2005 by the New York Times (2005) and by The Economist, the country has long been praised by neoliberal institutions as a model reformer, open and attractive to foreign direct investment (FDI), and for its high rates of economic growth, soaring primary commodity exports and one-digit inflation. While a milder version of this image of a Mozambican ‘miracle’ persisted throughout the 2010s, it started to clash with the reality of worsening inequality, poverty and crisis in social reproduction, as well as the emergence of the first clear signs of a debt crisis yet to come. In the main cities, violent riots triggered by rising costs of basic wage goods and services, over and above average inflation, erupted in February 2008 and again in September 2010. In September 2010, The Economist described these riots as the revolt of the ‘angry poor’, which did not deter international financial think tanks and media from continuing to emphasise the Mozambican ‘miracle’ (The Economist 2010). The country saw the contradiction of worsening poverty, high aid dependency and inequality at the same time as it was being described by the Financial Times as ‘at the centre of unprecedented international investor attention’ (Financial Times 2012, 2010). In May 2014, in her speech to the Africa Rising conference held in Maputo, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde highlighted Mozambique’s impressive performance with respect to economic growth as being the result of decades of institution building and sound macroeconomic management, which justified the IMF’s formal permission for Mozambique to obtain new loans on non-concessional terms (Orre and Rønning 2017). Two years later, in 2016, The Economist highlighted the country’s soaring sovereign debt in a context of increasing FDI and aid inflows, and the creditworthiness of the Mozambican economy was downgraded by credit rating agencies from stable average, where it had been from 2003 to 2015, to severe risk of default (Castel-Branco 2020). How can we make sense of this somehow contradictory information? Is Mozambique a ‘miracle’ or a ‘mirage’?
Abstract:
Editorial of the special issue of the Review of African Political Economy (RoAPE), titled “Capital accumulation, financialisation and social reproduction in Mozambique”, volume 49, number 171, March 2022.
Quotation:
Castel-Branco, Carlos Nuno; and Elisa Greco. 2022. “Mozambique – neither miracle nor mirage”. Review of African Political Economy, VOL. 49, NO. 171, 1-10, https://doi.org/10.1080/03056244.2022.2047297
Access the article here,
The historical logic of the mode of capital accumulation in Mozambique
This article by Carlos Nuno Castel-Branco investigates the historical logic of the mode of capital accumulation in Mozambique. By historical logic we mean the objective explanation of the specific characteristics based on an understanding of the country’s historical foundations, and the conflicts and tensions within and related to its structures of accumulation.
Abstract:
This article critically analyses the political economy dynamics and trajectory of the mode of capital accumulation in post-independence Mozambique, focusing on the capitalist restructuring that followed the adoption of the Washington Consensus from the late 1980s. The article highlights the main structural characteristics, dynamics and tensions in the economy, the relationships and conflicts that explain why they reproduce and expand, what makes them change and the nature of the crises that emerge. The argument is that the recent trajectory of the Mozambican economy was not inevitable, and that it can be logically understood and derived from the existing historical conditions of accumulation. Understanding this historical logic enables us to articulate socially transformative actions which are drawn from the objective and concrete analysis of the mode of accumulation and its contradictions, countering idealistic perspectives in political economy.
Quotation:
Castel-Branco, Carlos Nuno. 2022. “The historical logic of the Mode of Capital Accumulation in Mozambique”. Review of African Political Economy, VOL. 49, NO. 171, 11–45 https://doi.org/10.1080/03056244.2022.2040225
Access the article here.
“Topics in Development Studies” Seminar | March 14 to June 6, 2022
The Lisbon School of Economics and Management (ISEG/ULisboa), the School of Agriculture (ISA/ULisboa), the School of Social Science (ICS/ULisboa), and the Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning (IGOT/ULisboa), supported by the Center for African and Development Studies (CEsA/ULisboa), are pleased to invite you to the “Topics in Development Studies” Seminar. This is an initiative within the scope of the PhD Program in Development Studies (PDED).
The event will take place from March 14 to June 6, 2022, always on Mondays, from 6pm to 8pm Lisbon time (see the full programme bellow). The 12 meetings will adopt a hybrid format (in person and online) and will be open to the public.
“Topics in Development Studies” Seminar
From March 14 to June 6, 2022, always on Mondays, from 6pm to 8pm (GMT)
Hybrid event: in person at Room 1.1 (IGOT, Lisboa) and virtually on Zoom (https://videoconf-colibri.zoom.us/j/81669372496?pwd=OXFLYkIwOGhpWGRYVGliTmoxaXZuQT09 – code: 561505).
CEsA – Centre for African and Development Studies is one of the oldest research centres dedicated to Development Studies in Portugal. Founded in 1983, it is a private, non-profit association. It is on of the research centres integrated in the Centre for Research in Social Sciences and Management (CSG) research consortium of ISEG – Lisbon School of Economics and Management, Universidade de Lisboa. It is also a member of the R&D research network of the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI).
Author: CEsA Communications team (comunicacao@cesa.iseg.ulisboa.pt)
Did you miss a session? Watch all Development Studies Seminars 2022 presentations
The Development Studies Serminars 2022 sessions were streamed online via Zoom and YouTube, from March 10th 2022 to May 5th 2022. The broadcasts are saved on the CEsA YouTube channel (access this link). Check them out:
“Metodologia Aplicada a Projectos de Desenvolvimento: recolha e análise de dados sobre saúde e género em Moçambique”, Xénia de Carvalho (Universidade Nova de Lisboa), March 10 2022 (only in Portuguese).
“A África e o Mundo: circulação, apropriação e cruzamento de conhecimentos. Séculos XV-XX”, Isabel Castro Henriques (CEsA/CSG/ISEG/ULisboa), March 17 2022 (only in Portuguese).
“Triplo Nexus: Humanitário, Segurança e Desenvolvimento”, Ana Santos Pinto (FCSH/Universidade Nova de Lisboa), March 24, 2022 (only in Portuguese).
“Génese e Evolução da Perspectiva do Desenvolvimento Social nos Estudos de Desenvolvimento”, João Estêvão (CEsA/CSG/ISEG/ULisboa), March 31, 2022 (only in Portuguese).
“Protestos Populares, Oportunidades Políticas e Mudanças em África”, Edalina Sanches (ICS/ULisboa), April 7, 2022 (only in Portuguese).
“Global Finance and the Covid-19 Pandemic in Africa”, Howard Stein (University of Michigan), April 21, 2022.
“Inovação e Mudança na Sociedade Civil”, Ana Luísa Silva (CEsA/CSG/ISEG/ULisboa), April 28, 2022 (only in Portuguese).
“Change, Language and Power: Theories and Policies of International Financial Institutions (IFIs) in Africa”, Alice Nicole Sindzingre (CEsA/CSG/ISEG/ULisboa), May 5, 2022.
Send us an email to comunicacao@cesa.iseg.ulisboa.pt if you wish to receive the Development Studies Serminars 2022 panelist’s presentations.
Development Studies Seminars 2022 | March 10th to May 5th, 2022
The Centre for African and Development Studies (CEsA/CSG/ISEG/ULisboa) and the Lisbon School of Economics and Management (ISEG) of the University of Lisbon (ULisboa) are pleased to invite you to the Development Studies Seminars 2022. The seminars are an initiative that takes place annyaly since 1991 to promote the research conducted in the areas of study of the Master in Development and International Cooperation (MDCI) and the PhD Program in Development Studies (PDED).
The Development Studies Seminars 2022 will take place from March 10th to May 5th, 2022, always on Thursdays, from 6pm to 8pm Lisbon time (see the full programme above). The eight meetings will adopt a hybrid format (in person and online) and will be open to the public.
