Who is — Ibrahim Traore?
In order to understand who Ibrahim Traore is, we must first learn more about the country of Burkina Faso. Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, and its capital is Ouagadougou. The country is composed of various ethnic groups, with the Mossi people being the majority, and other tribes such as the Fula, Gurma, and Dyula people also inhabiting the country. The Mossi people established a kingdom in the region and held sovereignty over the area until French colonization. Burkina Faso achieved independence from France in 1958 and became its own nation. Originally named Upper Volta, it was renamed Burkina Faso after Thomas Sankara came into power. Sankara established a socialist state and implemented many reforms such as women’s suffrage, the development of domestic agriculture, and infrastructure development. Sankara is essential to understanding modern-day Burkina Faso and its new leader, Ibrahim Traore
Ibrahim Traore was born on March 14th, 1988, in a small town named Kera. He moved to attend school in the second-largest city called Bobo-Dioulasso. Eventually, he moved to the capital city of Ouagadougou to study at the University of Ouagadougou and received a degree in Geology. There, he joined the Marxist student association, which influenced his views on the world and the future of his country. Following university, he decided to join the military and was sent to the Georges-Namoano military academy. His time spent fighting Jihadists in the northern part of the country opened his eyes to the grim reality of the situation. From Traore’s point of view, the politicians in the capital were not doing much to help resolve the jihadist issues in the northern part of the country. They were living luxurious lives in the capital while the soldiers struggled with basic things like having a lack of equipment to fight the Jihadists.
These issues contributed to the coup d’état that took place in January 2022. The Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration would lead the country under Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba. Another coup occurred on September 26th, 2023; this time, Captain Ibrahim Traore was installed as leader with the support of the people. As leader of Burkina Faso, Traore expelled French forces from his country and removed French as the national language. All of these moves helped to remove the grip of French neo-colonialism. The region has witnessed multiple popular uprisings. Recently, Burkina Faso has been working with Russia to attract investments into security and infrastructure. In a growing multi-polar world, Traore and Burkina Faso look to divest from the West and seek other partners who offer a more equal exchange of prosperity.
