The Geopolitics of Sub-Saharan Africa course uses the Geopolitics analysis tool – space as a theater of operations – to understand Sub-
Saharan Africa today. With a multidisciplinary approach, the course covers key issues of geopolitical activity in the region, presented by specialists in the subjects.
General objetives:
– Identify key geopolitical issues in Sub-Saharan Africa;
– Reflect on key dimensions of geopolitical action, namely those related to domestic and international politics, the environment, issues of war and peace, and multilateral security organizations;
– Highlight relevant cases of Portuguese-speaking African Countries;
– Understand the processes in a regional way, involving several States, about dynamics in the South Atlantic, Gulf of Guinea, and Horn of Africa.
Duration: 20h (+142h autonomous work)
Tuition Fee: 150€ (50% for students and staff of the institutions involved in the scientific committee and Portuguese public entities). 6 ECTS awarded by FCSH/UBI (optional, upon the positive evaluation of na essay with 6000 words
Requested in the aplication:
– Curriculum vitae;
– Proof of student or employee of the institutions involved in the scientific committee and Portuguese public entities.
Requirements: Secondary education.
Recipients:
– Students from the various cycles of Higher Education, namely from the areas of International Relations, Political Science, History, Sociology, Geography, Economics, Communication and African Studies.
– Diplomatic corps and senior embassy officials;
– Journalists and experts on the subject;
– Members of the Armed Forces and Security Forces and Services;
– Public Administration staff, namely from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of National Defence, the Ministry of Internal Administration and the Ministry of Economy;
– Senior staff and technicians from Municipal Councils and Companies oriented towards internationalization.
Programme:
22 June (14:00h – 16:00h) – Multilateralism and Power Politics
Rita Laranjinha (Portugal) – Special Envoy for Africa
22 June (16:00h – 18:00h) – Great Power Competition in the Sahel
Norman Sempijja (Morocco)
23 June (14:00h – 16:00h) – Power Politics vs Regional Conflict
Resolution: The Horn of Africa Conflict Complex
Aleksi Ylönen (Portugal)
23 June (16:00h – 18:00h) – Africa+1 Summits: Between Multilateral Diplomacy and International Competition
Hasan Aydın (Turkey)
24 June (14:00h – 16:00h) – The Horn on Africa – Red Sea Geopolitical Nexus: Regional Cooperation and Rivalry in a Changing World
Yonas Tariku (Ethiopia)
24 June (16:00h – 18:00h) – Mega Dams, Canals and Pipelines: Water as Part of Large Geopolitical Chess Games
Ana Elisa Cascão (Portugal)
25 June (14:00h – 16:00h) – The African Way of Waging War and Its Geopolitical Dimension
Igor Castellano da Silva (Brazil)
25 June (16:00h – 18:00h) – Africa in the Post-Liberal Order
Vasco Rato (Portugal)
26 June (14:00h – 16:00h) – Africa’s Strategies of Development and International Insertion: The Hybridity of Agenda 2063
Guilherme Ziebell (Brazil)
26 June (16:00h – 18:00h) – Geopolitical Shifts and Regime Survival: Guinea-Bissau’s Foreign Policy in a Changing Global Order
Ricardo Sousa (Portugal)
Application deadline: 7th of June 2026, https://www.ubi.pt/Curso/1370
