National private sector and state in the conduction of the Brazilian foreign policy for Africa during the Lula years

Resumen

The ar­ticle analyses interactions between members of the Brazilian private sector and the Brazi­lian state apparatus during Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s two terms as president, from 2003 to 2010, within the domestic and foreign public policies’ framework, which would have fomen­ted relations with African countries pursuing instrumental gains. The article supports the thesis that actors from both private and gover­nmental sectors achieves advantages as they emprehend synchronic actions. While the pri­vate sector succeeds in minimizing its opera­tional and political costs in its external invest­ments, the Brazilian government, in parallel, uses such private investments as a means of ex­panding its international influence and achie­ve its objectives. In light of this, three cases of Brazilian companies that invested in Africa during the investigated period, are analyzed.