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In this way, the recognition, on the part of aboriginal chieftains and natives, of the sovereignty exercised by a European power over the territories traditionally belonging to one or more ethnic groups prevailed over the validity of the historical rights claimed by Portugal.21
By the end of the conference, it was universally clear that untenable Portuguese dreams of glory had to be abandoned and that the presence of ruined outposts would no longer guarantee full—nominal—dominion of a territory: the approach to the overseas resources had to be rapidly overturned in order to avoid the otherwise inevitable perspective of losing also the remnants of the empire.
During the 1890s, the course of events seemed to quicken: the British ultimatum, the subsequent formalisation of the Portuguese empire, and the entrenchment of Lusitanian patriotism led, in a desperate attempt to scoop foreign competition, to the implementation of some meaningful changes in the administration of the colonies. The pressure of the “race for Africa” and the British threat, together with the European demand for raw materials and tropical products, were powerful stimuli for investment in Angola’s vast potential wealth.
In 1892 a protective tariff was introduced, which led to a significant increase in trade between Portugal and Africa. That increase was particularly marked for Portugal’s exports to Africa and for African exports to third countries, shipped through Portugal as reexports.22
After the suppression of slavery, the production of export goods such as coffee or cotton required measures to tie the population to the land. A successful and effective colonisation could not get along without strict control of the African populations, not only because it was necessary to provide a labour force for the plantations, but also because it granted huge tax revenue. In 1899 a new labour code was imposed on all African natives in the form of a “moral and legal obligation to work”.23
Thus, the 1892 tariffs and the 1899 labour code were the landmarks of the new colonial regime imposed by Portugal on its African colonies. Perhaps the adoption of these measures, which brought important benefits for Portuguese colonization, was delayed simply to strengthen the bargaining position of the country during the scramble for territory and the diplomatic negotiations concerning African borders.