Chapter 1 - Cpt. Ibrahim Traoré and the AES - A Pan-African rebirth
A three part series on Traoré as a historical character, an economic analysis of the AES and the Pan-African rebirth that Cheikh Anta Diop promised...
I find myself brimming with inspiration at this current moment in time and it is thanks to the actions of our title holder for what is already his second article, Cpt. Ibrahim Traoré, the youngest president in the world and a man who has the very real potential of bringing Africa into a truly sovereign Pan-African future. Hence my optimism…
The spirit of Sankara is reborn - History has a theme and variation
While many of you may know the legendary man, Thomas Sankara, for those of you who don’t, we should quickly pass through the simple layers of his story. It is a short story and it shares similar dynamics with many immortal figures, such as Joan of Arc; his story like hers, was brief, courageous, honorable, victorious and finally tragic too, and yet still hope was won for the future generations. So let’s begin…
In 1983, Thomas Sankara rose to lead the Upper Volta region and immediately renamed the former colony. The young nation of Burkina Faso (means 'the land of upright people' in Mooré and Dyula languages) rose up from the ashes to find itself with many unresolved problems inherited from the previous administrations that were more interested in guarding the halls of power for France, rather than use those halls for the organization of a prosperous economy for their people. Sankara, who had previously worked as a government minister, in Information and media, saw his moment to shine and shine he did, when he won the reins of power from those he considered most corrupt and more than that, beholden to foreign interests. Upon his arrival as the first President of Burkina Faso, he made rapid progress and it was all thanks to the humanist policies that he activated on a national scale:
Famine prevention and agrarian expansion.
Land reform.
One of the strongest defenders of Women’s rights in all of History. Gave many powerful speeches on the importance, dignity and respect for women in society. Progressively increased female access to Education, activity in the Labor market and Politics, while enforcing the prohibition of female circumcision, forced marriages and polygamy.
His Popular Revolutionary Tribunals prosecuted public officials charged with graft, political crimes and corruption, considering such elements in the state as counter-revolutionaries and traitors of the nation.
Sankara reinforced his populist image by ordering the sale of luxury vehicles and properties owned by the government in order to reduce costs. In addition, he banned what he considered the luxury of air conditioning in government offices, and homes of politicians.
He combatted desertification of the Sahel by planting more than 10 million trees.
Suspending rural poll taxes.
Nationwide literacy campaign.
Built schools, Health centers, Water reservoirs, Roads and other major infrastructure projects.
And yet the authenticity and the future of our revolution depends on women. Nothing definitive or lasting can be accomplished in our country as long as a crucial part of ourselves is kept in this condition of subjugation — a condition imposed . . . by various systems of exploitation.
- Thomas Sankara
Thomas Sankara was an enemy of the Western colonial powers for all of the above reasons and importantly, because he was a staunch defender of African sovereignty with his revolutionary programmes and reforms, that made him a hero to many of Africa's poverty-stricken nations. The President was massively popular with a substantial majority of his citizens, as well as those living outside of Burkina Faso. Of course, many of his policies angered elements of the former ruling class, while the government of France and its African ally, the Ivory Coast, interfered on multiple occasions before finally having success with the man’s best friend, Blaise Compaoré, the man who had helped him come to power in the previous coup d'état. Bought and paid for, Compaoré didn’t skip a beat and dutifully followed his foreign masters orders. On 15th October 1987, Thomas Sankara was deposed in a violent coup d'état; he was murdered under the orders of Compaoré. The great man had to be killed for his passion, but his lesson and spirit remained and would one day inspire another.
Unfortunately, Blaise Compaoré stayed in power until the 2014 Burkina Faso uprising; a 27 year dictatorship backed by France, leaving Burkina Faso utterly underdeveloped and its people in poverty. The BBC noted in 2014, that he was - 'the strongest ally to France and the United States in the region', pretty telling indeed. In 2021, he was formally charged with and found guilty for the murder of Thomas Sankara by a military tribunal. Nowadays, he lives in exile in the Ivory Coast, where two of his fellow westernized presidential puppets formerly ruled or currently rule - Mr. Félix Houphouët-Boigny and the IMF trained, President Alassane Ouattara…
Traoré carries in him the spirit of Thomas Sankara and you can look back to my most recent article to compare all of his present day achievements with the immortal man. Traoré is young, stable, intelligent, wise beyond his years and has the potential to achieve a whole lot more than his spiritual ancestor, if he hasn’t already…
Traoré and the AES confederation
The Alliance of Sahel States is the new confederation in West Africa, they are the new Pan-African spirited leaders in town, made up of three nation states that are the modern-day successors to the once golden Malian Empire; Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. With this confederation, we witness the arrival of a true Pan-African actor that has the sovereign character to confront the problematic reality of neo-colonial extortion and political interference coming from the former colonial countries. They have the mandate to restore security to the region, a region terrorized by proxy extremist groups acting on behalf of the western powers that formerly claimed to be defeating them. Now, with sovereignty over their borders intact and facing the enormous challenge of providing security to an area that reaches around 2,760,000 km2 (making it the largest African country by area, 8th in the world); they can defeat terrorism with a united military backed by Russia, can take back their national resources and begin to industrialize the nation and can claim their position as a new visionary leader on the continent.
With these achievements in hand they will have the geopolitical weight to pull other nations into alignment as we already see with the likes of potential new coastal member, Togo, or the recent cooperation of Nigeria (a massive turnaround for Tinubu), or the wonderful scenes of Ghana’s cooperation in pretty much all areas; Mahama seems to have a particular liking for Traoré. There are talks between the AES and Sudanese military, while Tanzania and Morocco are looking to get in on the action too with offers of cooperation in trade, agriculture, mining, education, health, etc. Morocco signed a regional agreement with AES so they could secure access to the Atlantic Ocean; essential given that they are all landlocked nations, while Tanzania, has brought a very specific proposal to the table, in terms of South-South knowledge transfer; the area of Cardiology. The Tanzanian Heart Institute is a world-leading institute and they are offering to train cardiologists for the provision of high quality healthcare back in Burkina Faso and the wider AES by default!
Traoré carries significance everywhere he goes at the moment, in fact, the man is already a walking icon and gets a very impressive reception wherever he goes. The first major consideration comes from the big bear herself, Russia and more importantly, her leader - President Vladimir Putin, has found himself an apprentice it seems. This teacher-student like relationship that is rapidly building between them, was recently made most evident by Traoré’s surprising appearance at the Russian Victory Day parade in Moscow, this May 8th, where cameras kept panning over Putin or Xi’s shoulder, to find the young man standing tall in military attire, proud to represent his nation. Upon sharing a formal bilateral meeting with Traoré and his Burkinabe government ministers after the parade, Putin opened the meeting with a very welcoming message; here are the important parts -
I remember our constructive and productive conversation when you first visited our country in 2023 to participate in the Russia–Africa Summit in St Petersburg. Your current visit to Russia to attend celebrations of the 80th anniversary of Victory is deeply symbolic and reflects the friendly nature of the Russia-Burkina Faso relations.
I would also like to mention your country’s contribution to defeating German Nazism and its satellites. About 30,000 people from modern-day Burkina Faso fought as part of the anti-Hitler Coalition, in the Free France formations led by the legendary son of the French people General Charles de Gaulle.
We will continue to help the Republic in restoring the rule of law and constitutional order and to assist in suppressing the radical groups that are still active in certain parts of Burkina Faso.
Over the past two years, we have made significant progress in expanding mutually beneficial cooperation across various areas. In late 2023, after a pause that lasted over 30 years, the Russian Embassy in Ouagadougou resumed its operations. A regular political dialogue was established. Work is under way to create an intergovernmental commission. A dedicated working group was formed in late 2024.
We will continue to help your country in training national personnel. The Russian government scholarship quota for Burkinabe citizens has been more than doubled for the 2024–2025 academic year. This year, we are prepared to take 27 more students from your country. The tuition will be covered from Russia’s federal budget. In all, about 3,500 students from Burkina Faso received their education in Russia.
Cooperation in healthcare and sanitation holds a lot of promise. On April 24–25, Ms. Popova visited Ouagadougou. We are ready to carry out joint scientific research, develop laboratory infrastructure, and train specialists.
We prioritize humanitarian aid to Burkina Faso as well. Last year, we shipped to your country 25,000 tonnes of wheat free of charge. This month, a large shipment of other foods will arrive in Ouagadougou.
Consultations between Russia and the Confederation of Sahel States have become a valuable new cooperation format. The first such meeting took place at the level of foreign ministers in Moscow in April.
Traoré’s reply, somewhat more natural and at ease and yet full of admiration and respect, was as follows -
I am honored to be able to take part in the Great Victory celebrations. I would like to thank you for the invitation. It is very symbolic for us. I must say that during this visit I learned a lot about the culture and history which were the foundation of the resistance of the Russian people. I learned about the sacrifices made by your people which made it a free nation today.
Today’s obstacles should not stop us. To some extent, these obstacles even play into our hands, because despite the sanctions that have been imposed against the Russian Federation by many countries, Russia occupies a prominent place in the international arena, and we take this into account, we understand that it is not easy.
I watched soldiers marching in front of us, I saw the military equipment, including tanks that took part in the Great Patriotic War, and I saw modern equipment as well. We would like cooperation between us to develop exponentially and to take new forms.
Today, I visited the Mendeleev Institute, and we understand that in addition to defence and security, there is another important sphere, namely, science and education. We would like Russia to help us educate our young people and teach them science, so that we can develop our own production, industry, and engineering, because it is very important for Africa.
We believe that the terrorism we are witnessing today comes from imperialism, and we are fighting it. If we put an end to this war, if we have a strong army, we will be able to engage in developing our homeland.
We would like to ask for help, and the main thing you can help us with is the transfer of technology and know-how. We need to understand how we can spread the universities that exist in Russia to Burkina Faso, how we can open university branches in Burkina Faso, to train our citizens, our students in a more practical way. This is our fundamental objective. We would like Burkina Faso to develop and for many students to come to us and to study science.
Honestly, I’m not in the least bit surprised that Putin has taken such a liking to the young leader. When one shows such an ability to chase away the colonialists, restore rule of law over the national resources and use that restoration for the economic benefit of the population, much in the same way Putin did recently over the SMO in Ukraine, then we can understand the affinity.
All boats return to the Harbor in a storm…
If one watches videos of Traoré’s reception at the new President of Ghana, John Mahama’s inauguration, one will see the sheer excitement of the people in attendance, by his presence. The crowd go wild to put it simply; like I said, this man is an icon already. Just think, right now this May 25th, people world over are demanding for his protection from foreign imperialism in the March for African Liberation Day that carries the subtitle - Walk with Traoré. Hashtags galore are trending with #HandsOfAfrica being the biggest one I know of so far and all of this reaction because American military talking parrots can’t keep their nose out of anyone’s domestic business. AFRICOM General Michael Langley stepped way out of touch with reality when he accused Traoré of using Burkina Faso's gold reserves for the junta's benefit rather than the nation's - “All the proceeds from Burkina Faso’s gold reserves are to protect the military junta regime.” Classic American hypocrisy enters the arena right on time to diminish its already crumbling standing in the world and without any foresight as to severe damage to the African-American bilateral relationship, a relationship that looked to be developing rapidly towards the stars in the 60’s under the JFK administration, only to land back firmly on the dust, after six decades of empire-loving presidents and admins.
In 2025, we are witnessing the arrival of a new era in international relations and I have no doubt that this man, President Ibrahim Traoré, has the potential to pull all the African boats towards his Burkinabe and AES harbor, in this stormy sea that is currently the geopolitical arena. African nations that still have any semblance of national independence, are sailing straight to the AES port, with Ethiopia, Tanzania, Nigeria, Botswana and Morocco seeking an audience with at least one of the three national leaders. Traoré has been propelled into the spotlight for the significance of his actions; Kicking out the colonizers, rebirthing the national culture, restoring economic sovereignty, building new infrastructure, boosting economic growth and lifting the hopes and spirit of his people while fellow Africans unite under his image. These for me are the central reasons for his 20 or so assassination attempts and why he, more than the other AES leaders, is considered such a threat. He is leading the ideal, the image of a greater good for Africa and he is succeeding in changing the physical reality and peoples minds too, with light-speed maneuvering, hence his special invitation to Victory Day!
It’s amazing that millions of Africans and Pan-Africanists will march for this man in just over a week and they already know what the billion dollar funded military, economic and social experts in the MICIMATT arena are struggling to conceive; this star is not going to fall even with a $5 million bounty on his head, it’s called loyalty; the more you shoot the more his image grows, creating a myth-like hero status and finally, you can shoot as many times as you want, you just keep missing the mark… on everything!
Part two to follow - The future economic potential of the AES….
It's very exciting to know that Putin recognized the people of Burkina Faso as being a part of the fight against nazism. The tragedy today is that the present French leaders seem to have forgotten that France was once a part of that fight.
Superb man. Will read the rest of your series while not busy here in the office.