The motives for building the Portuguese empire in Africa varied considerably throughout the period reviewed in this article. From 1822 to 1892, the successive Lisbon governments defended the empire’s 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 of 1892, which was made possible by the definition of the frontiers that preceded it, the African colonies became a source of foreign currency to the Portuguese economy. The 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 reoutlined by the Colonial Act of 1930, only to fade during the 1960’s 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 accompanied by liberalization within it 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.
