I was born and educated in England. Over the past four decades I've worked as a librarian and researcher in seven different countries in Europe, Africa and Latin America. Most of the time, I've been employed in universities and research centres - in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (1971-1974), Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (1975-1978), Maputo, Mozambique (1979-1987), Harare, Zimbabwe (1987-1991) and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (1991-1992). During much of this period I was also intermittently active as a radio and print journalist. I sometimes used the pseudonyms 'José Manuel das Fontes' or simply 'José Manuel' when writing about Lusophone Africa.

In 1992 I settled permanently in Cape Town, South Africa with my family and I'm now a South African citizen. I hold a postgraduate library qualification, and a doctorate in social and economic studies from the University of Bradford.