LEAD. Leaders' Visits & Agreements Database
Portrait of Malam Bacai Sanhá
Photo: Roosewelt Pinheiro · CC BY 3.0 br

President · Guinea-Bissau

Malam Bacai Sanhá

50 recorded engagements, 1999–2011: 50 visits and 2 signed agreements.

Open in the interactive map Guinea-Bissau country profile
50Engagements
50Visits
0Phone calls
0Video conferences
2Signed agreements
25Destination countries
20Multilateral summits
1999–2011Years in LEAD

Biography

President of Guinea-Bissau from 2009 to 2012

Malam Bacai Sanhá (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈmalɐ̃ bɐˈkaj sɐˈɲa]) (5 May 1947 – 9 January 2012) was a Bissau-Guinean politician who was President of Guinea-Bissau from 8 September 2009 until his death on 9 January 2012. A member of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), Sanhá was President of the National People's Assembly from 1994 to 1999 and then served as acting President of Guinea-Bissau from 14 May 1999, to 17 February 2000, following the ouster of President João Bernardo Vieira. Standing as the PAIGC candidate, he placed second in the 1999–2000 presidential election as well as the 2005 presidential election before winning the June–July 2009 presidential election.

== Personal life ==

Sanhá was born on 5 May 1947 in the Quinara region to a Muslim family. He was married to Mariama Mane Sanha until his death in 2012.

== Early political career ==

A long-time member of PAIGC, Sanhá served as governor of the Gabú and Biombo regions and held several cabinet ministries before becoming President of the National People's Assembly in 1994. A Civil War broke out in June 1998 between elements of the army loyal to General Ansumane Mane and those loyal to...

Text from the Wikipedia article “Malam Bacai Sanhá” by its contributors, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the full article

Where they travelled

Guinea-Bissau   Visited or called (darker = more often)

Most-visited countries

  • Libya7
  • Senegal6
  • Nigeria5
  • France5
  • Guinea3
  • Algeria2
  • United States of America2
  • Spain2
  • Angola2
  • Gambia1
  • Mauritania1
  • Turkey1

Discussion topics

  • Diplomacy and Foreign Relations50
  • Regional Organizations and Multilateral Affairs20
  • Trade and Economic Relations3

Activity by year

1999: 8 engagements2000: 0 engagements2001: 0 engagements2002: 0 engagements2003: 0 engagements2004: 0 engagements2005: 0 engagements2006: 0 engagements2007: 0 engagements2008: 0 engagements2009: 8 engagements2010: 26 engagements2011: 8 engagements19992000200520102011

Signed agreements

Where the agreement's title was not recorded, its type or category is shown, as coded in the dataset.

DatePartnerWhat was signed
2010-08-07Iran (Islamic Republic of)Functional cooperation
2010-08-25BrazilFunctional cooperation

Every recorded engagement

DateTypeDestinationAgreements
1999-06-26 – 1999-06-27VisitSenegal · Dakar
1999-06-30 – 1999-07-01VisitGambia · Banjul
1999-07-07 – 1999-07-09VisitLibya · Tripoli
1999-07-12 – 1999-07-14Visit SummitAlgeria · Algiers
1999-07-15VisitMauritania · Nouakchott
1999-09-05 – 1999-09-06Visit SummitLibya · Sirte
1999-09-28 – 1999-09-30Visit SummitUnited States of America · New York
1999-10-09 – 1999-10-11VisitAlgeria · Algiers
2009-09-17 – 2009-09-18VisitLibya · Tripoli
2009-10-18Visit SummitNigeria · Abuja
2009-11-09 – 2009-11-10Visit SummitTurkey · Ankara
2009-11-18 – 2009-11-19Visit SummitItaly · Rome
2009-11-19 – 2009-11-20VisitLibya · Tripoli
2009-12-02 – 2009-12-09VisitSenegal · Dakar
2009-12-09 – 2009-12-21VisitFrance · Paris
2009-12-21 – 2009-12-25VisitSpain · Madrid
2010-01-26 – 2010-02-10VisitFrance · Paris
2010-02-16Visit SummitNigeria · Abuja
2010-02-17 – 2010-02-18VisitPortugal · Lisbon
2010-02-24Visit SummitMali · Bamako
2010-02-26 – 2010-02-27VisitLibya · Tripoli
2010-04-08 – 2010-04-09VisitAngola · Luanda
2010-06-01 – 2010-06-02Visit SummitFrance · Nice
2010-07-03 – 2010-07-04Visit SummitCabo Verde · Praia
2010-07-14 – 2010-07-15VisitLibya · Tripoli
2010-07-22 – 2010-07-23Visit SummitChad · N'Djamena
2010-07-24Visit SummitAngola · Luanda
2010-07-24 – 2010-07-27Visit SummitUganda · Kampala
2010-08-07 – 2010-08-10VisitIran (Islamic Republic of) · TehranAgreement signedFunctional cooperation
2010-08-25 – 2010-08-26VisitBrazil · BrasíliaAgreement signedFunctional cooperation
2010-08-28 – 2010-08-31VisitCuba · Havana
2010-09-17Visit SummitNigeria · Abuja
2010-09-18 – 2010-09-19VisitGuinea · Conakry
2010-09-24 – 2010-09-27Visit SummitUnited States of America · New York
2010-10-28 – 2010-11-03VisitSenegal · Dakar
2010-11-22 – 2010-11-25VisitSpain · Madrid
2010-11-29 – 2010-11-30Visit SummitLibya · Tripoli
2010-12-01 – 2010-12-09VisitFrance · Paris
2010-12-13VisitSenegal · Dakar
2010-12-20VisitBurkina Faso · Ouagadougou
Show all 50 engagements
DateTypeDestinationAgreements
2010-12-21VisitGuinea · Conakry
2010-12-24Visit SummitNigeria · Abuja
2011-01-11VisitGuinea · Conakry
2011-03-24Visit SummitNigeria · Abuja
2011-05-21 – 2011-05-22VisitIvory Coast · Abidjan
2011-06-21Visit SummitSierra Leone · Freetown
2011-06-29 – 2011-07-01Visit SummitEquatorial Guinea · Malabo
2011-08-31 – 2011-09-18VisitSenegal · Dakar
2011-11-23 – 2011-11-26VisitSenegal · Dakar
2011-11-26 – 2012-01-09VisitFrance · Paris

Cite this profile

Ozturk, Y., Atabas, H., Guler, E., Duyar, B., & Yucel, R. (2026). Leaders' Visits & Agreements Database [Data set]. Africa Foundation. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22898778 [Malam Bacai Sanhá leader profile. Accessed 26 September 2026. https://lead-database.netlify.app/leaders/malam-bacai-sanha.html]