The National Centre for Strategic Studies (CNES) launched a three-day training workshop on Monday, 8 June 2026 in Ouagadougou, targeting senior officials and experts from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The session focuses on strategic intelligence and geopolitical foresight. It is being held at the premises of the Permanent Secretariat of the African Peer Review Mechanism (SP-MAEP), located in Ouaga 2000.
The primary aim of this gathering is to strengthen the skills of around thirty experts, ambassadors and technical advisers from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In a rapidly changing global context, the organisers intend to equip participants with modern tools to better anticipate crises and guide policy decisions.
Over three days of work, from Monday 8 to Wednesday 10 June 2026, participants will explore various topics such as strategic monitoring, geopolitical analysis and risk assessment. The training combines theoretical lectures with practical exercises, including the drafting of operational briefing notes.
For Brigadier General Barthélémy Aimé Simporé, Director General of CNES, this initiative responds to a governance need. He explained the current challenges. “Power rivalries are being reconfigured, security crises are becoming more complex, and strategic uncertainties are now a permanent feature of the international environment,” he stated.
He also pointed out that the goal is no longer simply to react to crises, but to develop a real forecasting capacity for the country.
For his part, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, represented by its Chief of Staff Dieudonné Désiré Sougouri, welcomed this partnership with CNES. According to him, the ministry’s Strategic Analysis Bureau must constantly adapt its working methods to current realities.
He emphasised the importance of this upgrade for public administration. “Classic fundamentals are increasingly being questioned, and our experts must constantly update their skills. We need to train experts who can understand the international geopolitical environment,” he confided.
This training, a first for this department, is expected to lead to better identification of emerging risks and the production of more direct analyses for the authorities. The organisers indicated that further sessions of this kind will be scheduled in the future to ensure continuity in capacity building.
The workshop marks a step in the modernisation of national diplomatic action, aligned with the authorities’ orientations. According to the actors, the sharing of experiences with defence and higher education experts will guarantee the success of this activity.
