Reorganizing the escudo zone: Portuguese monetary policy and empire-union in Africa in the 1960s

In the 1960s, the escudo zone, comprising Portugal and its African colonies, countered the trend of European decolonization. The Portuguese state reorganized monetary relations in the empire-state with the help of a new legal framework. The aim of this imperial economic reorganization was to establish a balance of payment relations which was expected to facilitate Portugal’s economic modernization and the country’s association with liberalizing economies in Western Europe that were experiencing rapid economic growth. However, the escudo zone soon became dysfunctional. Mata explains why the designs of economy building in a Portuguese empire-state could not be realized, given the trend toward independent political and economic development in Lusophone Africa.