The journal “Cadernos de Estudos Africanos” announces the opening of a call for papers dedicated to the theme “Entrepreneurship in Portuguese-speaking African countries: challenges, opportunities, and diverse perspectives" ("Empreendedorismo nos países africanos de língua oficial portuguesa: desafios, oportunidades e múltiplas facetas").

Similar to the broader Sub-Saharan region, entrepreneurship in Portuguese-speaking African countries (PALOP) has gained increasing relevance over the past five decades, particularly in the context of the profound social, economic, and political transformations that followed independence. These countries have faced significant challenges, such as civil wars, post-conflict reconstruction, natural resource management, and the persistence of structural difficulties. Research on entrepreneurship is therefore essential to understand how local communities adapted to these adversities and how different economic sectors and clusters emerged as engines of economic development. This special issue aims to contribute to a better understanding of the multiple dimensions of entrepreneurship in the PALOP, reflecting on what has unfolded over the half-century since the advent of national independence.

Focusing on the five countries (Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, and São Tomé and Príncipe), the goal is to explore, from different social science perspectives, how entrepreneurial practices have developed, what challenges and opportunities have arisen, and how these economies have shaped their markets and created policies to promote the private sector.

Suggested topics include:

• Entrepreneurship and business dynamics in Africa;
• Entrepreneurship and economic dynamics in Africa;
• Entrepreneurship and sociological dynamics in Africa;
• Entrepreneurship and the rule of law in Africa;
• Entrepreneurship and multiparty politics in Africa;
• Entrepreneurship and anthropology in Africa.

Papers rich in ethnographic fieldwork that adopt an interdisciplinary approach and propose theoretical, conceptual, and ethical frameworks to understand the complexity of colonial and post-colonial dynamics, and the invocation of sound in processes of nation-building in African contexts, particularly in the five aforementioned countries, will be especially valued.

Submission deadline: 1 January 2026