Brazil–Africa Relations: The Strategic Importance of the South Atlantic

Abstract

Historically considered a commercial region on the tracks of Europe, Latin America and Africa, the South Atlantic resumes its geo-economic and geopolitical importance due to its great natural resources, as well as the turnaround of geo-politics towards the South. Although it has had great importance since the colonial era, it is only since the Oil Crisis in the 1970s that this ocean had its prominence re-dimensioned, boosting the debate of limited maritime borders, but mainly of the exploration of its natural resources. The incapacity of the two current inter-oceanic waterways—Suez and Panama—to respond to demands of receiving larger ships increased the pressures on the area. Besides the oil reserves and the ecosystems located in the South Atlantic, there is a diversity of other resources that might benefit the economic development of the countries lying on both margins. As the economic importance of the South Atlantic increases, the international pressures on the region grow proportionally. In this sense, the guarantee of economic rights comes along, for the countries of both margins, with the counterpart of duties and responsibilities of a political nature, environmental and of public security, so that the effective control and the maintenance of state sovereignty can be possible. In this perspective, this study seeks to evaluate the development and the potentiality of the Brazilian relations with the African countries in the context of the South Atlantic.