A 37-year-old army captain in a small West African country kicks out foreign troops. He takes back his country’s gold. He refuses a presidential paycheck. He tells the U.S. and France to stop treating Africa like a backyard project. That’s Captain Ibrahim Traoré, and the country is Burkina Faso. Never heard of it? You’re not alone. It’s a landlocked nation in West Africa that used to be called Upper Volta—until a revolution changed the name to mean “Land of Honest People.”
Now, under Traoré, it’s making headlines again. Since taking power in 2022, Traoré has been on a mission: take back control of Burkina Faso’s economy, reject old colonial rules, and stop relying on foreign troops to fight homegrown problems. He nationalized the country’s gold reserves and started building the first refinery so Burkina Faso could stop shipping raw gold to Europe and start keeping the profits. He’s launched farming programs, invested in factories, and helped boost food production by 18% in just one year.
He’s also living on his old army salary—no mansions, no yachts. Sounds bold, right? Not everyone agrees. In April, U.S. General Michael Langley, head of AFRICOM (America’s military command in Africa), told Congress that Traoré was using Burkina Faso’s gold “to protect his junta.” No evidence. No details. Just the kind of statement that has often come right before something worse.
Langley also described North Africa as “NATO’s southern flank,” which did not sit well with African nations tired of being seen as extensions of someone else’s empire. For many Africans, it sounded familiar—too familiar. In 2011, Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi was labeled a threat. Western nations moved in. Libya has been in chaos ever since. So when they hear warnings about Traoré, people across Africa and the diaspora are asking: Is this Libya all over again? That’s why on April 30, thousands of people marched in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Liberia, the U.S., the Caribbean, and Europe chanting “Hands Off Traoré!”—not because they think he’s perfect, but because they’ve seen this movie before.
First come the accusations, then the protests, then the “concerned” international statements, and then—boom—a coup, an assassination, or worse. And yes, there have already been more than 20 coup attempts against Traoré since he took office. One just a few weeks ago, which the government says came from neighboring Ivory Coast—coincidentally, the same country where U.S.-led military drills were happening at the time. Even outside Burkina Faso, people are feeling the pressure.
In Nigeria, an activist named Kola Edokpayi planned a pro-Traoré rally. The police told him to cancel it. He did. The next day, secret police raided his office anyway and arrested him. So what is Traoré really doing that’s got the West on edge? He’s refusing to play by old colonial rules. He’s rejecting the CFA franc, a currency still controlled by France. He’s demanding better deals from mining companies. He’s working to process African resources in Africa, instead of exporting them raw to be refined abroad.
He’s inspired by Thomas Sankara—the revolutionary icon who led Burkina Faso in the 1980s and was killed at 37 in a foreign-backed coup. Traoré is also 37. The parallels are hard to miss. But this time, there’s a difference. This time, the world is watching. From young organizers in Oakland to elders in Jamaica, from students in Accra to digital activists in Europe, people are drawing a line. Not again. Traoré may be new to global politics, but to many, he represents something old and powerful—freedom on Africa’s terms. Not given. Taken. Not imported. Built. He’s not just a captain. He’s become a symbol. And right now, he’s one the world isn’t sure how to handle.
Source: Final Call News, Monthly Review, Business Insider Africa
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