Thesis (M.S. in Operations Research)--Naval Postgraduate School, September 2008. / Thesis Advisor(s): Salmeron, Javier. "September 2008." Description based on title screen as viewed on November 3, 2008. Includes bibliographical references (p. 57-58). Also available in print.

Thesis (M.S. in Operations Research)--Naval Postgraduate School, March 2009. / Thesis Advisor(s): Salmeron, Javier ; Carlyle, W. Matthew. "March 2009." Description based on title screen as viewed on April 24, 2009. Author(s) subject terms: Gulf of Guinea, Logistics Scheduling, Optimization, Mission Routing, Theater Security Cooperation, Algorithm Comparison. Includes bibliographical references (p. 81). Also available in print.

Thesis (MA )--Stellenbosch University, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Understanding a risk is the first step in managing and mitigating it. Maritime insecurity has been an integrated risk for investors in the Gulf of Guinea for many years. But what do investors know about the nature of maritime insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea, besides a general risk rating? This thesis conceptualises and maps the maritime political risks in the Gulf of Guinea in order to give investors a better understanding of the nature of maritime political risk for the offshore oil and gas industry in the Gulf of Guinea. This conceptualisation is based on identifying the actors and actions of maritime security, i.e. people create maritime insecurity and identifying the people behind maritime insecurity provides valuable information for management and mitigation strategies. These actors create maritime insecurity by using a variety of actions, i.e. identifying these actions tells the investor more about the nature of maritime insecurity. However, there are also actors that contribute to maritime security and these actors use a set of actions to make maritime security a reality. In summary, this thesis creates a maritime political risk tool where one axis consists of actors contributing positively and/or negatively to maritime security and another axis that consists of actions these actors employ. This is done by providing the reader with a strong understanding of the theory behind political risk and conceptualising relevant concepts. The thesis contextualises maritime security, the offshore oil and gas industry and general political risks in the Gulf of Guinea. On this foundation, the maritime political risk tool is created by extrapolating information from four political risk companies: Aon, Control Risk, Bergen Risk Solution and Risk Intelligence. The maritime political risk actors and actions are also identified. The maritime political risk tool is applied to the case of the Gulf of Guinea. The conclusion is that conceptualising and mapping maritime political risk can improve management and mitigation strategies. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die verstaan van ‘n risiko is die eerste stap in die bestuur en beheer daarvan. Maritieme onveiligheid is al vir jare 'n geïntegreerde risiko vir beleggers in die Golf van Guinee, maar wat weet beleggers werklik oor die aard van die gebied van maritieme onveiligheid in die Golf van Guinee, behalwe vir ʼn risikogradering? Hierdie tesis konseptualiseer die maritieme politieke risiko's in die Golf van Guinee om vir beleggers 'n beter begrip van die aard van maritieme politieke risiko's in die aflandige olie- en gasindustrie in die Golf van Guinee te gee. Hierdie konseptualisering is gebaseer op die identifisering van die akteurs en die aksies betrokke by maritieme veiligheid, d.w.s. maritieme onveiligheid word geskep deur mense. Die identifisering van die mense wat maritieme onveiligheid skep, bied waardevolle inligting tot bestuurs- en beheerstrategieë aan. Die akteurs van maritieme onveiligheid skep onsekerheid deur die gebruik van 'n verskeidenheid van aksies, dit wil sê die identifisering van hierdie aksies gee die belegger meer inligting oor die aard van maritieme onveiligheid. Daar is egter ook akteurs wat bydra tot die gebied van maritieme veiligheid. Dié akteurs gebruik 'n reeks van aksies om veiligheid op see 'n werklikheid te maak. Om op te som, skep hierdie tesis 'n maritieme politiese risiko instrument waar die een as uit akteurs bestaan wat 'n positiewe en / of negatiewe bydra tot maritieme veiligheid maak, en die ander as bestaan uit die gebeure wat hierdie akteurs in diens kan neem. Dit word gedoen deur die leser met 'n sterk begrip van politieke risiko teorie te voorsien, asook om relevante konsepte duidelik te konseptualiseer. Dié tesis kontekstualiseer maritieme veiligheid, die aflandige olie- en gasindustrie en politieke risiko soortgelyk met betrekking tot die Golf van Guinee. Op hierdie fondament word die maritieme politieke risiko instrument geskep deur die ekstrapolering van inligting uit vier politieke risiko maatskappye: Aon, Control Risk, Bergen Risk Solution en Risk Intelligence. Die maritieme politieke risiko akteurs en aksies word ookgeïdentifiseer. Verder word die maritieme politieke risiko-instrument toegepas op die geval van die Golf van Guinee. Die gevolgtrekking wat bereik word, is dat die konseptualisering en die kartering van akteurs en aksies, maritieme politieke risiko, bestuur- en versagtingstrategieë kan verbeter.

Du XVe au XVII siècle, le Portugal a occupé la première place parmi les Etats les plus avancés de son temps. Et c’est pendant cette époque que les explorateurs de ce pays ont parcouru les océans lors d’expéditions qui les ont amenés en Afrique, en Asie, en Amérique et en Océanie. Or, le contact des peuples et des cultures a toujours été source d’influences réciproques de nature diverse et multiforme. Nous nous proposons d’étudier, dans cette thèse, les empreintes lusitaniennes dans le Golfe de Guinée. La recherche a été menée dans la partie australe de la Côte d’Ivoire, du Ghana, du Togo et du Bénin et elle se fonde sur un corpus composé de quelques centaines d’entrées que nous avons répertoriées à travers une recherche bibliographique et une enquête de huit ans sur le terrain. L’analyse de ces données, se fait selon une méthode qui combine à la fois l’histoire et le structuralisme dans son approche contrastive car, il s’agit, en réalité, de comparer deux systèmes linguistiques : le portugais et des langues Niger-Congo des groupes langues kru et kwa. L’étude se tisse autour de trois parties : la première partie fait un rappel historique des rapports luso-africains puis délimite l’univers géographique cible; la seconde étudie l’emprunt lexical portugais dans les principales langues de la région; enfin, la troisième et dernière partie, aborde la question des emprunts onomastiques portugais dans la région. / From XVth to XVIIth century, Portugal has been ranking first among the most advanced nations of its time. It is during that era that the explorers helped this country to reach out Africa, Asia, America and Oceania. But any contact with peoples and cultures has always been a source of various and multifaceted reciprocal influences. In this thesis, we will study the lusitanian impressions in the Guinea Gulf. The research has been conducted in the southern part of Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo and Benin and is based on a corpus made up of some hundreds of words that we have listed in a bibliography and an investigation that we have carried out in the field during eight years. The analysis of data is done according to a bipolar method which combines history and structuralism in its contrastive approach because, in reality, we are comparing two linguistic systems: portuguese, kru and kwa languages of the Niger-Congo family. The study includes three parts; the first part deals with the historical background of luso-african relationships then delineates the targeted geographic realms; the second part studies the portuguese lexical borrowings in the main languages of the region; finally, the third and last part touches on the issue of portuguese onomastic borrowings in the region.

Thesis (MA (Political Science))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Nigeria’s ability to play a regional stabilizing role in the Gulf of Guinea is severely thwarted due to unresolved conflict in the Niger Delta. Stemming from agitation by local communities, it evolved from peaceful rallies into an armed insurgency with the youth as the vanguard, and the conflict has subsequently spread into neighbouring countries like Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, and Benin. The aim of this study was to analyse the conflict in the Niger Delta, southern Nigeria in order to assess its impact on the political risk of the Gulf of Guinea. Taking the form of a political risk analysis, a means of forecasting potential pitfalls for an investing client to mitigate or manage risk, the study postulated that a country specific risk analysis would not be sufficient to analyse an integrated system like the Gulf of Guinea. Many scholars have suggested that regional analysis has become more important than national. In the context of Africa contagion effects, the spill over, positive as well as negative from one country to another, casts doubt on the value of assessing only a country specific risk analysis. Taking this phenomenon into account, a regional risk index was created in order to assess the regional implications of the conflict in the Niger Delta. The index consists of six variables chosen from four political risk frameworks, namely the Economist Intelligence Unit, the Business Environment Risk Intelligence, The Brink Model, and finally the International Country Risk Guide. The variables were chosen on their utility for regional political risk analysis and their status as major risk variables, universal risk variables employed by various risk frameworks. In the subsequent political risk analysis, the first four variables were rated as having a high risk while the latter two garnered a medium risk rating. As such the overall rating for the political risk of the Gulf of Guinea was found to be high. This study finds that conventional country specific risk models are still very much the preferred means of analysing risk, but that regional risk analysis would have to take a larger role in political risk analysis in the future. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Nigerië se vermoë om ‘n streeks-stabiliserende rol in die Golf van Guinea te speel, word ernstig gedwarsboom deur die onopgeloste konflik in die Niger Delta. Die oorsprong van die konflik in vreedsame gemeenskaplike protestaksie vir meer regverdige verdeling van olie inkomste het uitgekring na gewapende konflik, beide in die Delta self en in buurlande Kameroen, Ekwatoriale Guinee en Benin. Hierdie studie het gepoog om die konflik in die Nigeriese Delta te bestudeer om die impak van politieke risiko op die Golf van Guinea te assesseer. Die studie het die vorm van ‘n politieke risiko analise aangeneem, ‘n middel van vooruitskatting om potensiële valstrikke aan ‘n kliënt wat wil belê uit te wys om sodoende konflik te verlig of te beheer. Die studie veronderstel dat ‘n landspesifieke konflik analise onvoldoende is om ‘n geïntegreerde sisteem soos die Golf van Guinea te analiseer. Met menige akademici wat voorstel dat streeksanalise belangriker geword het as die nasionale, word daar in die konteks van die gevolge van Afrika-besmetting, die oorloop daarvan van een land na ‘n ander, positief sowel as negatief, ‘n skaduwee gegooi op die waarde van die assessering van slegs ‘n landspesifieke konflik analise. Met hierdie fenomeen in gedagte, is ‘n streek risiko inhoud geskep om die implikasies vir die konflik in die Niger Deltastreek, te assesseer. Die inhoud is saamgestel uit ‘n verskeidenheid van ses variante gekies uit vier politieke risiko raamwerke, nl die ‘Ekonomist Intelligence Unit’, die ‘Business Environment Risk Intelligence’, die ‘Brink Model’ en ook die ‘International Country Risk Guide’. Die variante is gebruik vir hulle waarde vir streekspolitieke risiko analise, asook die belangrikheid van hulle hoof risiko veranderlikheid, ‘n universele Hoof risiko variant wat gebruik word in verskillende risiko raamwerke. In die gevolglike politieke risiko-analise, is die vier variante beskou as ‘n baie hoë risiko, terwyl die laaste twee as medium risiko beskou word. Dus is die algemene taksering vir die politiese risiko in die Golf van Guinea baie hoog. Die studie vind uiteindelik dat lande se spesifieke risiko modelle steeds die verkose manier is om risiko’s te analiseer, alhoewel politieke risiko analise ‘n groter rol sal speel in toekomstige streek risiko analise.