For decades, Mozambique was a showcase of a beneficial Western aid recipient on the African continent. However, following a national debt crisis and the global financial crisis in 2008, the country...Show moreFor decades, Mozambique was a showcase of a beneficial Western aid recipient on the African continent. However, following a national debt crisis and the global financial crisis in 2008, the country started looking eastwards, increasingly seeking and accepting investment and aid from China. Mozambique witnessed increasing engagement from China, especially in the exploitation of raw materials and infrastructure development. In academic literature and public discourse, the South-South cooperation between the two developing countries is often portrayed as benefitting only China, ascribing the Mozambican state a merely passive and receiving role. This thesis scrutinizes this assumption and explores the different ways in which the Mozambican government asserts its agency vis-à-vis China, specifically in the mining sector. Indeed, the analysis shows that, despite structural constraints, the government does exercise agency on various levels.Show less
In light of Africa’s gradual integration into the global market economy, the continent has increasingly attracted international investments from the emerging economies, in particular Brazil and...Show moreIn light of Africa’s gradual integration into the global market economy, the continent has increasingly attracted international investments from the emerging economies, in particular Brazil and China, since the early 2000s. Since Africa has a rich historical past related to colonialism, exploitation of and subordination to the global North, these developments question the potential of these new, dominant players in Africa to break with this vicious cycle of dependency on dominant economies. As Latin America’s strongest economy by nominal gross domestic product (GDP), Brazil’s growing cooperation with the African continent is therefore raising the question of the country’s economic and political intentions behind its South-South Cooperation (SSC) projects. Formerly regarded as a promoter of cooperation between Southern countries by the African community, Brazil’s shift in foreign policy towards economic pragmatism is now viewed as a double-edged sword. While extensive academic research has focused on China’s role in accessing these new markets, less work has looked at Brazil’s underlying intentions behind its SSC projects. In fact, Brazil’s leading agricultural SSC project in Mozambique, the ProSAVANA project, has sparked a public and academic debate about the implications of Brazil’s cooperation for its Southern partners. The hypothesis of this thesis therefore argues that since president Luiz Inácio ‘Lula’ da Silva’s rise to power in 2003, Brazil uses SSC as a tool to strengthen its economic and political influence on Sub-Saharan Africa and to diversify its economy, while subordinating the local markets to Brazil’s economic activities, hence reproducing the dependency theory. In order to confirm this hypothesis, the following research question will be central to the discussion of this thesis: How does Brazil’s agricultural South-South Cooperation with Sub-Saharan Africa, with a focus on the ProSAVANA project in Mozambique, reproduce the dependency theory?Show less
The Portuguese decolonisation in Africa followed an exceptional path through the 1950s and 1960s. Portugal continued to reject decolonisation as other European powers’ colonies moved towards...Show moreThe Portuguese decolonisation in Africa followed an exceptional path through the 1950s and 1960s. Portugal continued to reject decolonisation as other European powers’ colonies moved towards independence. Due to its unique position, the decolonisation had a large international dimension, attracting much attention from not only many nation states but also both the UN (United Nations) and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization). This research will be concerned with the British media and how it portrayed the decolonisation of Mozambique, a Portuguese colony. The fact that Mozambique was the first state admitted to the British Commonwealth having never been part of the British Empire or under the control of any other member state indicates the connections that Britain has shared with Mozambique. Only one other state, Rwanda in 2009, has been afforded admittance. This research will highlight British interest in Mozambique and argue that this interest affected reporting in British newspapers concerning decolonisation in Mozambique.Show less
In deze scriptie wordt onderzocht welke kaarten de VOC maakte van, en voorafgaand aan de stichting van, de VOC-post in de Delagoabaai (de huidige Maputobaai in Mozambique). De post bestond een...Show moreIn deze scriptie wordt onderzocht welke kaarten de VOC maakte van, en voorafgaand aan de stichting van, de VOC-post in de Delagoabaai (de huidige Maputobaai in Mozambique). De post bestond een kleine tien jaar, tussen 1721 en 1730, en was onder andere opgericht omdat de VOC het Afrikaanse rijk Monomotapa hoopte te bereiken via de baai. In Monomotapa zou goud in overvloed zijn. In dit onderzoek staat de vraag centraal welke rol cartografie speelde in het besluit om in deze baai een handelspost te stichten in 1721 en op welke manier kaarten de levensloop van de post illustreerden en beïnvloedden. Deze scriptie dient bovendien als voorbeeld voor de toepassing van een theoretisch kader, bestaande uit drie cartografische fases, dat algemeen toepasbaar is in onderzoeken naar vroegmoderne VOC-posten.Show less
Abstract This thesis investigates whether South-South Cooperation can lead to agricultural growth in Africa, based on the transfer of knowledge and best-practice techniques developed in Brazil....Show moreAbstract This thesis investigates whether South-South Cooperation can lead to agricultural growth in Africa, based on the transfer of knowledge and best-practice techniques developed in Brazil. Using a case study analysis of ProSAVANA, a triangular cooperation project between Japan, Brazil and Mozambique, this thesis analyses the effectiveness of the project in combining financial aid with technical knowledge transfer to cultivate the Nacala Corridor of Northern Mozambique. Based on the findings of the case study, this thesis argues ProSAVANA has been largely unsuccessful in achieving agricultural development in Mozambique. This is primarily due to its focus on private investment and commercial gains, which has been heavily criticised by civil society groups and local farmers in Mozambique. This paper concludes by arguing that ProSAVANA is damaging the long-term reputation of SSC, following claims of land grabbing and exploitation of resources, which is in stark contrast to its principles of shared development goals and mutual respect. This harms SSC’s chances of changing the development landscape in the long run.Show less
