Rui S Verde was born in Lisbon in 1966, got a PhD in Law from the University of Newcastle, UK and a degree, also, in Law from the Universidade Católica de Lisboa, PT. He is now the Chief-Legal Adviser of Maka Angola, the main entity that promotes democracy, human rights and fights corruption in Angola, the founder of the Angola Research Network and Member of the Royal African Society.

He has written extensively about Angola and talked at a recent time in several academic conferences and seminars at the University of Oxford, London, Birmingham, LSE. He is now developing research work at Oxford concerning the build-up of democracy, fundamental rights and the fight against corruption in Angola and DRC. Previously, he was a Professor of Law in Portugal and Angola, a Visiting Professor in Brazil and Kazakhstan, as well a Visiting Fellow at Newcastle University. He is also a commentator regarding Africa of Deutsche Welle.