Lisbon, Sept. 15, 2025 (Lusa) - Researchers argue that 50 years after independence, cooperation between Portugal and its former African colonies (PALOP countries) is linked by the Portuguese language, a pillar of the countries' identity and development, despite challenges such as elitism and lack of resources.
Professor Luís Sinate, affiliated with the Higher Institute of Social and Political Sciences (ISCSP) in Lisbon, told Lusa that there is an elitism surrounding the Portuguese language, which is used more in urban centres in PALOP countries as a "language of knowledge and work", in contrast to rural and peripheral areas, where native languages predominate.
Luís Sinate attributed this duality to a "lack of resources," but pointed out that Portuguese-speaking African countries are making an effort to make Portuguese a "language of unity," especially in administration and education, as well as a "vehicle of unity" between the African Countries with Portuguese as an Official Language (PALOP) and Portugal.
The professor also pointed out that, before independence, education was "the poorest relative, where it was extremely exclusionary", with the majority of the population having no access to it, adding that after independence, education came to be seen as a fundamental pillar for development and the construction of a new national identity.
Portuguese, which was previously an "imposed language" by the colonisers, became a "shared heritage" and a "vehicle of communication" between countries.
"[The Portuguese language], as heritage, ceased to be an imposed language and became a shared heritage, so that all countries could have a vehicle of communication in the same register," he stressed.
It is the ‘language of diplomacy, the language of administration, the language of education,’ and the only tool that can create a "Portuguese-speaking zone” with a global strategy.
Patrícia Oliveira, a professor at Lusófona University, stated that more horizontal cooperation should be strategically positioned to allow the Portuguese language to be "a language of science and a language of research".
According to the researcher, "historical ties are fundamental" for cooperation between Portugal and the PALOP countries, with the current focus being on "looking to the future" and "developing countries economically, politically and also in terms of education".
The professor also said that there are multiple challenges, namely in financing mobility and creating cooperation networks between higher education institutions, funds for programmes that promote student and teacher mobility, and for joint research projects in the Portuguese-speaking world.
With the exception of Guinea-Bissau, the PALOP countries are celebrating 50 years of independence this year.
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