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The Gulf of Guinea is a highly valuable geostrategic and geoeconomic region on the west coast of Africa. Its value mainly stems from the fact that global maritime routes linking Africa to Europe, America, and Asia pass through it, and it is rich in marine resources, including both fish and energy. However, throughout the twenty-first century, there have been multiple threats that could jeopardise the region’s maritime security and compromise freedom of navigation and international maritime trade, as well as the security of the populations that use the sea lawfully and whose livelihoods depend on its resources. Among the main threats to maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea are piracy and armed robbery at sea against ships, but also illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing. Brazil has sought to exercise influence in the region, especially since the creation of the Zone of Peace and Cooperation of the South Atlantic, in 1986, promoting (and leading) the construction of a regional identity in the South Atlantic. However, the persistent maritime insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea in recent years indicates that a more comprehensive cooperation model—involving states and organisations from both shores of the Atlantic—has yet to be implemented, but will be needed to address the challenges that lie ahead. In the current circumstances, the following research question was defined, which guided all the research that followed: what role can Brazil play in building a good order at sea in the Gulf of Guinea that will increase maritime security in the region? Rooted in an interpretivist epistemological framework, this research followed inductive reasoning, associated with an essentially qualitative research strategy and a case study research design. It is believed that the academic importance of this research is focused on analysing the concept of maritime security and the main threats it faces in the Gulf of Guinea region nowadays, how Brazil has come to perceive these threats, and how it can position itself to contain them. The conclusion shows that the South Atlantic became part of Brazil’s foreign policy agenda at the dawn of the twenty-first century and the Gulf of Guinea has since become a greater priority, although the rhetoric needs to be matched by greater Brazilian involvement in the region.

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The Challenges in Africa’s Maritime Domain: Brazil’s Strategy for the Gulf of Guinea

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  • 发表日期：

    2025年

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  • António Manuel Gonçalves Alexandre,
  • Francisco José B. S. Leandro

摘要

The Gulf of Guinea is a highly valuable geostrategic and geoeconomic region on the west coast of Africa. Its value mainly stems from the fact that global maritime routes linking Africa to Europe, America, and Asia pass through it, and it is rich in marine resources, including both fish and energy. However, throughout the twenty-first century, there have been multiple threats that could jeopardise the region’s maritime security and compromise freedom of navigation and international maritime trade, as well as the security of the populations that use the sea lawfully and whose livelihoods depend on its resources. Among the main threats to maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea are piracy and armed robbery at sea against ships, but also illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing. Brazil has sought to exercise influence in the region, especially since the creation of the Zone of Peace and Cooperation of the South Atlantic, in 1986, promoting (and leading) the construction of a regional identity in the South Atlantic. However, the persistent maritime insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea in recent years indicates that a more comprehensive cooperation model—involving states and organisations from both shores of the Atlantic—has yet to be implemented, but will be needed to address the challenges that lie ahead. In the current circumstances, the following research question was defined, which guided all the research that followed: what role can Brazil play in building a good order at sea in the Gulf of Guinea that will increase maritime security in the region? Rooted in an interpretivist epistemological framework, this research followed inductive reasoning, associated with an essentially qualitative research strategy and a case study research design. It is believed that the academic importance of this research is focused on analysing the concept of maritime security and the main threats it faces in the Gulf of Guinea region nowadays, how Brazil has come to perceive these threats, and how it can position itself to contain them. The conclusion shows that the South Atlantic became part of Brazil’s foreign policy agenda at the dawn of the twenty-first century and the Gulf of Guinea has since become a greater priority, although the rhetoric needs to be matched by greater Brazilian involvement in the region.