Perspectives of architectural export of Yugoslavia to Africa (1960–1991)
Post-war reconstruction and modernization in the newly formed SFRY, implemented through ambitious five-year social development plans that largely included construction activities in almost all social and economic spheres, eventually gave rise to a comprehensive organization in the field of construction in terms of personnel and experience. As early as the second half of 1946, the formation of design bureaus or institutes and construction companies began at the federal, republican and local levels in order to perform a wide variety of tasks and professional work. Due to the mastery of the most diverse design and construction tasks, especially the more complex and demanding ones, domestic personnel became increasingly professional over the years, and thus more specific beyond the borders of Yugoslavia.
The introduction of workers’ self-management enabled design and construction companies to operate entirely under market conditions – independently entering the open market and finding jobs through bidding, as well as independently planning and programming activities in relation to available capacities and expertise. Many large work organizations formed their own design bureaus or design institutes in order to better connect design and construction, according to the engineering system. Such cooperation created the conditions for the implementation of significant and demanding facilities that represented Yugoslav construction in the world.
During the second half of the 1960s, the construction sector achieved extremely favorable business results, so that by 1978, Yugoslav construction was among the most efficient areas of the Yugoslav economy in terms of the development of production forces, efficiency and rationality of construction, and overall results achieved. Of the Yugoslav republics, the largest share in the total balance of work performed abroad was held by companies from Serbia (41.9% in 1969). By the beginning of the 1980s, i.e. before the consequences of the crisis in the world economy became apparent, the Yugoslav construction industry was present in 35 countries around the world on five continents, of which 16 were in Africa. Labor organizations from Serbia, primarily from Belgrade, participated in this realization with a 64% share.
Although the motives for entering foreign markets were fundamentally economic in nature, arising from the general need to generate income and ensure continuity of employment of the increased production capacities, they also reflected friendship towards developing countries. For Yugoslavia, the concept of international economic cooperation implied a contribution to solving the problems of other countries, specifically through the provision of economic, technical and other types of assistance to African peoples “on the path of their economic, political and cultural emancipation”. For African countries, Yugoslavia represented a new partner in the economic field, while for Yugoslavia the African market was promising not only in terms of the exchange of goods but also in the domain of professional services and scientific and technical cooperation.
The value of work performed abroad amounted to around 1.3 billion US dollars in 1978. In foreign appearances, the position of architectural design firms was more specific in relation to construction operations, primarily in terms of the value of services provided, i.e. work performed. Although the share of design services in the total amount of work performed abroad was on average around 5%, and this was during the seventies when activities on the foreign market were at their highest, the results achieved in the field of architectural design confirmed the broad possibilities and capacities of Yugoslav design firms. The basis for the development of Yugoslav architecture rested on the fact that architecture gained a wider field of activity as the community set more complex requirements.
The decades after 1960 were a time of great expectations in Africa. In the early 1960s, a large number of countries regained their independence from the colonial powers of Western Europe. Despite numerous problems, the general impression of the countries’ development was extremely optimistic. The optimism of the first years after the independence of African states was expressed in the establishment of new capitals, which significantly reduced the administrative importance of the previous capitals from the colonial era. Continuous contributions to the architecture of cities in African countries during the 1960s and 1970s came primarily from those architects who had previously worked in Africa during colonial times.
In addition to British and French firms, architects from the United States, Israel, Italy, Scandinavian countries and Eastern European countries, including the SFRY, began working on large complexes. Thanks to their role in the founding of the Non-Aligned Movement and the results achieved in architectural and urban planning, Serbian firms received their first engagements in African countries in the early 1960s, and over time the scope of work became increasingly extensive and the types of buildings increasingly diverse. Among the first projects by Serbian architects for African countries, after the declaration of independence, the project by Belgrade architect Bratislava Stojanović for a cultural center in the Sudanese city of Khartoum, created in the late 1950s, stands out. During the 1960s, projects for African countries were mainly for state administration buildings (seats of government and state administration) and other state institutions for educational, health, cultural purposes or social significance.
By the early 1970s, Serbian companies had already established themselves with the realization of a university city in Libya, a hospital in Addis Ababa, industrial facilities in Sudan, etc. Some companies were not only equal partners to other interested foreign companies for placement in African countries, competing in the demanding conditions of international competition, but also found themselves in a situation where work was assigned to them directly, without a competition or tender. Through the first engagements in the field of spatial and urban planning and architectural design in African countries, cooperation was also established between individual companies from the Yugoslav republics in order to better utilize available domestic capacities. The engagements of our design firms in African countries, intensified during the 1970s, led to a series of realizations of various types and sizes of buildings, as well as a plurality of architectural solutions and authorial approaches.
During the 1970s, the company “Energoprojekt” carried out the most architectural projects in Africa, in which a separate organizational unit for architecture and urbanism was formed in 1971, headed by architect Milica Šterić, and this period in the company has remained known as the “golden African phase”. In its work, “Energoprojekt” remained mostly focused on the foreign market, which was its main comparative advantage, while organizationally it strived to integrate architectural and urban planning expertise with construction practice – from basic infrastructure to interiors. Other design firms from Serbia, mainly from Belgrade, such as “Architektura i urbanizam”, “Centroprojekt” and, to a lesser extent, “Invest-biro” and “Osnova”, also worked in Africa, participating in several architectural competitions, while projects were done much more rarely by individuals.
The economic crisis that gripped the world in the late 1970s soon affected Yugoslavia, and in the 1980s many companies rationalized and reduced their business activities. After the first engagements of companies from Serbia in the construction of priority infrastructure facilities, such as the construction of the Kpime Dam in Togo, the construction of which was begun by “Energoprojekt” in 1961, and then continued in the field of architectural design, primarily through projects of state administration buildings significant for their symbols of statehood and modernization, the 1970s saw the expansion of architectural typologies towards buildings for business, tourism and residential purposes.
Reflections of modernism and localization of architectural experience (1992–2023)
African countries remained friendly countries even after the collapse of Yugoslavia, as Serbia continued to inherit and cherish the values of the Non-Aligned Movement from previous decades, but economic cooperation and business exchange decreased, primarily in terms of organized and more active provision of professional services in the fields of planning, architecture and construction. In the 1990s, companies in Serbia continued their cooperation with African countries, within the limits of realistic possibilities, primarily thanks to previously achieved results, professional qualities and acquired trust.
Many adapted to local contexts by forming partnerships with local professionals or operating smaller-scale independent practices. While large firms like Energoprojekt and Centroprojekt restructured through privatization, their historical references from the socialist era became crucial for securing new contracts and maintaining a presence in Africa. Since 2000, Serbian architects have engaged sporadically in African projects, primarily through business arrangements or participation in competitions, reflecting a shift towards localized and investor-driven practices.
As political and social conditions have changed in some African countries since then, some architects have returned to Serbia, some have gone further afield, a certain number of them have stayed behind working on various jobs, while some architects have continued to participate in urban and architectural competitions from Serbia – a practice that has been constant throughout these decades.
Since the year 2000, Serbian architects have most often obtained work in African countries through various business arrangements and contracts with investors, and some through participation in competitions, which are otherwise only sporadic. After the privatization and reorganization of large design companies that continued their future work in the form of a joint-stock company, such as “Energoprojekt”, or as a commercial company, such as today’s “Centroprojekt”, the references achieved in African countries during the socialist period were often significant for the creation, or rather branding, of the profile of a new company with the same name, but also for establishing new business arrangements and concluding contracts in Africa, as was used by “Energoprojekt”, which is present on the African continent to this day.
See more in: Ilija Gubić, Nebojša Antešević, The Legacy of Serbia’s Architectural Export to African Countries from 1960 to the Present (Novi Sad: Center for Sustainable Urban Development and Culture “Struktura”; Belgrade: University of Belgrade, Faculty of Architecture, 2023)
