Resumen de The Ambaca railway in Angola: history of failed public-private partner-ship (1885-1914 and briefly onwards)
- español
En 1886, el gobierno portugués estableció un consorcio público-privado con una empresa privada para construir y operar un ferrocarril entre Luanda y Ambaca en su colonia ultrama-rina de Angola. Se esperaba que la asociación beneficiara a ambas partes: proporcionaría a An-gola una poderosa herramienta de desarrollo económico y apropiación política y pagaría la in-versión privada (accionistas y tenedores de bonos). Sin embargo, pronto la empresa se convirtió en un desastre financiero con altos costos de construcción e ingresos operacionales débiles, lo que obligó al Estado portugués a intervenir. En este documento, analizaré la evolución del con-sorcio público-privado de Ambaca desde una perspectiva cuantitativa, examinando las cifras de su financiamiento, operación y ayuda estatal. Me sumaré al debate sobre la relación entre el Estado y la iniciativa privada, a través de asociaciones público-privadas en el contexto espe-cífico del «scramble for Africa» y del Nuevo Imperialismo de finales del siglo xix y principios del xx.
- English
In 1886, the Portuguese government signed a public-private partnership with a private company to build and operate a railway between Luanda and Ambaca in its overseas colony of Angola. It was expected that the partnership would benefit both parties: it would provide Angola with a powerful tool of economic development and political appropriation, and it would pay the private investment (stockholders and bondholders). However, the enterprise soon became a financial disaster with soaring construction costs and feeble operational reve-nues, which forced the Portuguese state to intervene. In this paper, I will analyse the evolution of the Ambaca public-private partnership from a quantitative perspective, examining the fig-ures of its financing, operation and state aid. I will add to the debate about the relationship between state and private initiatives, through public-private partnerships in the specific con-text of the scramble for Africa and New Imperialism of the late nineteenth and early twenti-eth centuries.
