Contributors

EurAfrican 2023

Rita Laranjinha

EU Managing Director for Africa
Portugal

Born on August 18, 1970, Rita Laranjinha graduated in International Relations from the University of Lisbon (1992), completing a degree in European Studies the following year – Political Sciences and Administration, at the College of Europe, in Bruges.

In March 1996, she was admitted to a diplomatic career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
She was an advisor to the Secretary of State for European Affairs and worked at the Portuguese Embassy in Madrid and at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where she was first an advisor and then Chief of Staff to the Minister.

Between 2012 and 2014, he was Head of Deputy Mission at the Portugal Embassy in Luanda, Angola.
In 2015, she held the position of Deputy Director General for Foreign Policy, with responsibility for managing relations with Africa and the Americas.

That same year, in May, she was promoted to Plenipotentiary Minister.
He returned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, again as Chief of Staff of the Minister, a position he held from November 2015 to August 2018.

She was the Portuguese Ambassador in Denmark and later in Lithuania, where she worked without officially residing in the country.
She is currently Director-General for Africa at the European Union’s European External Action Service.