The main goal of this research project is to analyse the impact of donor cooperation policies in the consolidation or fragilisation of the state-building processes of three former Portuguese colonies: Angola, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique. Within this framework, the specific objectives of the project are threefold. In a first moment, a comparative analysis of the development aid policies’ declared strategies and aims towards the three countries; second, a comparative analysis of the impact and results of these policies in the three mentioned cases and their regions; finally, an identification of possible alternative policies, based on a lessons-learned process.