Burkina Faso foreign ministry experts get geopolitical training from CNES

The National Centre for Strategic Studies (CNES) kicked off a three-day training workshop for senior officials and experts from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday, June 8, 2026, in Ouagadougou. The session centres on strategic intelligence and geopolitical foresight. It is being held at the Permanent Secretariat of the African Peer Review Mechanism (SP-MAEP) in the Ouaga 2000 district.

The main goal is to build the skills of about thirty experts, including ambassadors and technical advisers from the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

Given the rapidly shifting global landscape, organisers aim to equip participants with modern tools to better foresee crises and steer policy decisions.

Over the three days from Monday 8 to Wednesday 10 June 2026, participants will cover diverse topics such as strategic monitoring, geopolitical analysis, and risk assessment. The training blends theoretical lectures with hands-on exercises, including the drafting of operational briefs.

Brigadier General Barthélémy Aimé Simporé, Director General of CNES, said the initiative responds to a governance imperative. He outlined current challenges: “Power rivalries are reshaping, security crises are growing more complex, and strategic uncertainties have become a permanent feature of the international environment.”

He further noted that the aim is no longer just to react to crises but to build a genuine forecasting capacity for the country.

For his part, Dieudonné Désiré Sougouri, the Chief of Staff at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, welcomed the partnership with CNES. He stressed that the ministry’s Bureau of Strategic Analysis must continuously adapt its working methods to current realities.

He underlined the importance of this upskilling for public administration. “Traditional fundamentals are increasingly being challenged, and our experts must constantly update themselves. We need to train experts who can understand the international geopolitical environment,” he stated.

This training, a first for the department, is expected to improve the identification of emerging risks and produce more straightforward analyses for authorities. Organisers said additional sessions will be scheduled in the future to ensure the continuity of this capacity building.

This workshop marks a step forward in modernising national diplomatic action, aligned with the authorities’ guidance. Sharing experiences with defence and higher education experts will guarantee the success of this activity, organisers believe.