Manuel Tacanho is a social philosopher and economist. He’s the founder and president of the Afrindependent Institute, a think-tank developing and disseminating Africonomics, an African school of philosophical and economic thought. Africonomics pioneers the African approach to economics, jurisprudence, and other social sciences.

Mr. Tacanho’s professional journey began in the Oil and Gas industry, where he gained skills in supervision of offshore drilling operations for over five years after graduating from a technical petroleum school in Angola. A pivotal career transition led him to South Africa, where he pursued and completed his BA in International Relations at Stellenbosch University.

Upon his return to Angola, Mr. Tacanho furthered his expertise by joining the Angola Sovereign Wealth Fund (FSDEA) in 2015, following his successful completion of the prestigious Future Leaders of Angola Program in Switzerland at the ZHAW School of Management and Law.

Venturing into entrepreneurship, Mr. Tacanho founded two ventures, one in the retail gas sector in Angola and a digital banking startup in Germany. While these initiatives did not reach the desired success, they provided valuable insights, entrepreneurial experience, and enduring relationships.

As a scholar, Mr. Tacanho dedicates his efforts to laying the foundations of Africonomics, the African approach to economics and other social sciences based on a natural-moral law framework. As an entrepreneur he heads the establishment of the Afrindependent Institute, which he founded in 2022.