Conclusion

Far from being able to address all the issues related to Brazil’s contemporary relations with Africa, this chapter dealt mostly with official, bilateral, government to government relations between Brazil and Africa nations, but nonetheless, it acknowledges the importance of an emerging relationship between civil society actors in Brazil and in the African continent. Brazil’s growing international presence, both as provider of development cooperation and also due to the presence of Brazilian multinationals, has drawn the interest of civil society organizations that have been dedicating more attention to Brazilian foreign policy and the impact of the Brazilian presence, especially in South America and in Africa. The Brazilian Foreign Ministry still remains as the main actors behind the coordination of the country’s external relations, but it is increasingly having to deal with demands from other ministries (such as the ones responsible for health, education, development and energy), the Legislative power and also NGOs and civil society groups. For example, the Brazilian Landless Movement has recently expressed support for the South African agricultural workers who went on strike in January 2013¹⁶⁰. To what extent this growing number of relevant actors will be able to (re)shape Brazilian foreign policy in general, and to Africa in particular, remains to be seen.

In conclusion, two recent episodes reveal the challenges that Brazil will still have to face in Africa as it wishes to expand its presence in the continent. In December 2011, a young Brazilian diplomat died of malaria after returning from a short mission in Equatorial Guinea. The diplomat’s death received broad coverage in the Brazilian media and was credited mainly to lack of medical assistance and monitoring on the part of the Foreign Ministry after her return. In a rare gesture, Brazilian diplomats wrote a letter to the Minister asking for an improvement in the medical assistance and pre-departure orientation provided to diplomats sent to serve in posts located in areas of harsh conditions, such as some countries in Asia and Africa¹⁶¹. The second episode involves the kidnapping attempt, by pirates of the coast of Tanzania, of a ship serving the Brazilian state oil company Petrobrás on October 2011¹⁶². These two episodes provide some examples of what Brazil faces in expanding and deepening its relations with Africa and what will be required from the country from now on as it increases its presence in the continent.

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