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Liberato Moniz was a poor young man in a little land few people have heard of: São Tomé e Principe, two beautiful but mosquito-infested islands astride the Equator off Africa's west coast. He might have remained a typical struggling African in one of Portugal's many former colonies, but for a small government grant to study drama in Lisbon. That was 15 years ago. Today, aged 38, Moniz is an architect with three businesses — the other two are landscape gardening and hairdressing — employing 30 people, many of them also African immigrants. "I had always wanted to be an architect," he says, "but the only grant was to study drama." When he got to Lisbon, he switched courses.
Moniz thinks that his adopted Portugal, and Europe in general, need better structures in place to take in the migrants their labor markets so badly need — to have a legal if not a literal bridge across the Straits of Gibraltar. "Portugal, for instance, recently announced five-year contracts for foreign workers, in part to help construct the six new stadiums it needs by 2004 for the European soccer championships," Moniz says. "But these workers won't be allowed to bring any family members, and they won't include the many thousands already here, which would have been a more logical place to start." Moniz says he does not suffer racism in Portugal, but says many of the Portugal-born children of African immigrants feel marginalized.
In five years, Moniz plans to entrust his businesses to associates and return to São Tomé to enter politics. "I feel an obligation to do that, at least for some years," he says. "I think most Africans would like to return home after working in Europe, but their countries are often in a mess. Educated Africans who have experience of getting things done are needed to establish firm and sustainable development plans so that there is something to come back to."
As an architect, Moniz mainly designs offices and rehabilitates buildings, the latter badly needed in Lisbon. Although he doesn't build bridges, he is helping to construct better links between Africa and Europe. Don't be surprised one day to hear the name Liberato Moniz, President of São Tomé e Principe.
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