Burkina Faso President Ibrahima Traore Set to Meet With Museveni After Criticism of Long Serving African Presidents

According to reports, Captain Ibrahim Traore, one of Africa’s youngest leaders, is scheduled to meet President Museveni shortly after a request from the latter. At the Africa-Russia summit, Burkina Faso’s military leader, Captain Traore, criticized Africa’s longest-serving leaders for hindering the continent’s progress, despite its wealth of mineral resources, which caused President Museveni to visibly react.

It has now been revealed that Captain Traore has dispatched an envoy to engage with President Museveni ahead of a forthcoming heads of state meeting. Born in 1987, Captain Traore orchestrated a coup d’état in Burkina Faso on September 30, 2022, ousting Interim President Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba.

In just two years of his leadership, Burkina Faso’s GDP rose from roughly $18.8 billion to $22.1 billion. He has spurned loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, asserting, “Africa doesn’t need the World Bank, IMF, Europe, or America.”

He has cut the salaries of ministers and parliamentarians by 30% while increasing civil servants’ pay by 50%. He has also settled Burkina Faso’s local debts. Captain Traore established two tomato processing facilities, the first of their kind in Burkina Faso.

In 2023, he inaugurated a modern gold mine to improve local processing capabilities. Additionally, he halted the export of unrefined gold from Burkina Faso to Europe. He constructed Burkina Faso’s second cotton processing plant, as previously there was only one.

He launched the first National Support Center for Artisanal Cotton Processing to aid local cotton farmers. Traore prohibited the use of British legal wigs and gowns in local courts and instead promoted traditional Burkinabé dress.

He has focused on agriculture by distributing more than 400 tractors, 239 tillers, 710 motor pumps, and 714 motorcycles to enhance production and support rural communities. He provided improved seeds and other agricultural inputs to boost farming output.

Tomato production in Burkina Faso rose from 315,000 metric tonnes in 2022 to 360,000 metric tonnes in 2024. Similarly, millet production increased from 907,000 metric tonnes in 2022 to 1.1 million metric tonnes in 2024, while rice production grew from 280,000 metric tonnes in 2022 to 326,000 metric tonnes in 2024. He has prohibited French military operations and media presence in Burkina Faso and expelled French troops from the country.

His administration is actively building new roads, expanding existing ones, and upgrading gravel roads to paved surfaces.

Furthermore, he is constructing Ouagadougou-Donsin Airport, projected to be completed in 2025, with the capacity to accommodate 1 million passengers annually, while also building free housing for citizens.