Portugal Leverages African Partnerships to Bolster European Security

The blunt warning came wrapped in a diplomatic smile. While inaugurating a new business forum in Lisbon, former prime minister António Costa reminded the room that war is no longer a distant television event. The return of heavy artillery to European soil, he stressed, forces Portugal to rethink its neighbourhood. And in that rethink, Africa is not simply a development partner—it is part of the continent’s security equation.

From front-line trenches to Atlantic shores

Heavy fighting in eastern Ukraine may seem far away from the Algarve, yet Costa argued that the ripple effects—energy insecurity, inflation, refugee flows—are already felt in Portuguese households. By framing the conflict as a continental issue rather than an eastern-border skirmish, he positioned Portugal as both stakeholder and potential mediator. Brussels shares that view, funnelling fresh funds into European Defence and encouraging member states to diversify strategic alliances beyond NATO’s traditional circuits.

Lisbon’s southern vector

For decades, Portugal has cultivated ties with Angola, Mozambique and Cabo Verde, rooted in language and overlapping business communities. Costa’s speech moved the conversation beyond cultural affinity. He portrayed joint military exercises in the Gulf of Guinea, Portuguese Navy patrols off São Tomé and Príncipe, and EU-funded migration centres in Dakar as pieces of the same puzzle: make Africa safer, keep Europe safer. Analysts at the Portuguese Institute of International Relations note that maritime security in West Africa protects shipping lanes for southern European ports, including Sines, a key gateway for LNG tankers rerouted from Russia.

Investment beats intervention

Costa dismissed the notion that Europe can firewall itself behind Frontex. Instead, he championed infrastructure and green-energy projects, financed by a blend of EU funds and sovereign-wealth capital from Portugal’s African partners, as the most cost-effective security policy. The argument is numbers-driven: every €1 injected into renewable capacity in Mauritania or Namibia reduces Europe’s future outlay on border control, humanitarian aid and counter-piracy patrols. Lisbon’s diplomatic corps is now trying to secure agreement on a common debt-guarantee mechanism that would allow African states to borrow at near-EU rates while granting European contractors priority access.

The view from São Bento Palace

Opposition parties accuse Costa of outsourcing Portugal’s defence to overseas development budgets. Yet surveys by Universidade Católica show majority support for deeper Lusophone partnerships, especially when framed around job creation in Portuguese shipyards and tech hubs. The Ministry of Defence has already earmarked new procurement for patrol vessels with modular mission bays adaptable for joint EU-AU operations. Behind the scenes, Finland and Greece are lobbying to replicate Portugal’s model if the next EU budget ring-fences funds for Africa-focused security initiatives.

What happens next

Senior officials expect the upcoming European Council to endorse a roadmap linking the Global Gateway initiative to the European Peace Facility, effectively aligning trade, climate and defence spending. If that occurs, Portugal could emerge as a primary contractor and diplomatic bridge, turning historical ties into modern leverage. Costa’s final line captured the stakes: Europe can pay now—in ports, grids and classrooms—or pay later on its own borders. Either way, the invoice is already on the table.