There has been renewed interest in recent years in the relationship between African universities and the history of development policy (eg Livsey 2017). The question of knowledge, coloniality and African universities has also recently been foregrounded by Mbembe (2016), drawing on the South African context.
However there has been little work done on this in the context of post-colonial former Portuguese colonies. How might the university system in Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique become involved in a nation building which transcends historical inequalities? This panel builds on a series of initiatives in 2018 linking European and Lusophone African universities. Structured around an EU funded Erasmus Plus grant, this has seen exchanges and workshops staged in Lisbon and London, with one forthcoming for Luanda in October 2018, and further ones planned for Mozambique in 2019.
Participants in the panel provide perspectives drawing on the workshops, and interactions with a variety of colleagues from different disciplines who have participated in this programme. In reflecting on the prospects for South-North exchange and reciprocity transcending the perspectives of coloniality, the panel also reflects on the current state of universities in Lusophone Africa, challenges, and opportunities.