From 2003, President Lula heralded a new dawn in Brazil's expanding African relations. Brazil was claimed to be unlike other exploitative powers because of its cultural, geographic and historic connections; Africa's true brother. Despite the passing of two decades and a number of scandals, this narrative of exceptionalism remains. Studies on Brazil-Africa relations tend to focus on the Brazilian state as the key, essentially benign agent. Our analysis uses the case studies of Angola and Tanzania to debunk the idea of Brazilian exceptionalism. We demonstrate the significant, overlooked agency of corporations in shaping and implementing Lula's Africa Policy, and determining its developmentally dubious outcomes. Additionally, the paper shows how political elites in Africa directed Brazilian government and companies into their political and business norms. Thus, Brazil-Africa relations replicated much of the typical economic patterns of the continent's trade, with oft-controversial and corrupt investment in commodity extraction and infrastructure.
Este artigo explora a trajetória da Odebrecht em Angola no contexto da relação histórica entre multinacionais e o Estado africano desde a chegada da empresa ao país nos anos 1980 até a crise de 2015. O texto oferece uma perspectiva original sobre as relações entre Estado e multinacionais, relevante para acadêmicos que estudam as relações entre Brasil e África.
<p class="abstract">Este artigo tem como objetivo examinar as origens e a evolução do setor dos diamantes em Angola. Ele começa em 1921 com a criação da companhia Diamantes de Angola (Diamang) e termina em 1961 com o início da luta anticolonial. Ao longo desse período, o Estado colonial e o setor dos diamantes desenvolveram uma relação simbiótica: o Estado atribuía os poderes necessários para a Diamang estabelecer um “estado dentro do estado” e, assim, consolidar a presença territorial das autoridades portugueses. Para explicar a emergência e a consolidação dessa relação, o artigo explora as razões pelas quais o Estado colonial cedeu poderes à Diamang, sublinhando sua fraca capacidade institucional para projetar autoridade no interior da colônia de Angola. Em seguida, o artigo mostra como a Diamang passou a ter um papel essencial nos debates sobre política administrativa e fiscal na colônia e na metrópole.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Palavras-chave</strong>: Lunda - setor dos diamantes - história colonial - Angola.</p><p class="abstract"><strong><em>Abstract</em></strong></p><p class="abstract"><em>This article examines the origins and evolution of the diamond sector in Angola. It begins in 1921 with the creation of DIAMANG and ends in 1961 with the outbreak of the liberation war. It argues that throughout this period (and beyond) the colonial state and the diamond sector shared a complex but ultimately co-constitutive relationship: the state granted DIAMANG the necessary powers, while DIAMANG built a ‘state inside the state’ on the former’s behalf. To explain the emergence – and the persistence – of this relationship, the chapter explores the reasons why the colonial state empowered DIAMANG to perform state functions in Lunda in the first place, highlighting the institutional incapacity of the early colonial state to broadcast its power directly in the hinterland. It then shows how DIAMANG furthered the financial and other interests of Portuguese colonial officials and other influential individuals in the colony as well as in the metropolis, and vice-versa. </em></p><p class="abstract"><strong>Keywords</strong>: <em>Lunda - diamond sector - colonial history - Angola</em></p>
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