Since Captain Ibrahim Traoré seized the reins of power in Ouagadougou on September 30, 2022, Burkina Faso has been on a whirlwind trajectory of reform, realignment, and resolute economic ambition. At just 36 years old, the soldier-turned-transitional leader has rolled out sweeping measures across security, governance, resource management, and foreign policy each designed to safeguard sovereignty, shore up the battered economy, and signal a new era of “African solutions for African problems.”
From the moment he strode into the presidential palace, Traoré made clear that business as usual was over. Faced with a seething jihadist insurgency that had fractured northern and eastern provinces, he issued a bold “general mobilisation” in April 2023, calling every able-bodied citizen and every branch of the security forces to reclaim rebel-held territory before any talk of elections. This was not mere rhetoric: over the next year, more than 10,000 new soldiers and gendarmes were recruited, fresh equipment delivered, and command lines streamlined into a leaner, more responsive force. Within months, several border towns that had fallen to extremist groups were back under government control, restoring vital trade routes and giving farmers in the north the confidence to sow millet and sorghum once again.
But Traoré quickly recognized that guns alone would not heal a country battered by nearly a decade of violence and missed growth opportunities. In May 2024, after nationwide consultations, he extended the transitional period by five years pushing elections from July 2024 to July 2029 and rewrote the Transition Charter to cement his authority and allow him to stand in any future polls. Critics decried the move as a power grab; supporters argued it bought time to rebuild institutions, train new civil servants, and design lasting economic reforms. To staff this revamped government, Traoré dissolved the existing cabinet in December 2024, installing technocrats and reform-minded ministers who shared his pan-African vision and security-first priorities.
Central to that vision was wresting control of Burkina’s abundant natural resources above all, gold. Once Africa’s fourth-largest producer on paper, the country lost millions in unrefined exports and illicit smuggling. In November 2023, Traoré launched a state mining corporation and secured parliamentary approval for the nation’s first domestic gold refinery. By February 2024, artisanal miners long the backbone of rural livelihoods saw their export permits temporarily suspended as the government moved to formalize operations, plug revenue leaks, and channel new tax receipts into health clinics, schools, and road repairs. Early data suggest the strategy is paying off: gold exports rose by 18 percent in the first half of 2024 compared with the previous year, and government mining revenues jumped by nearly 25 percent, financing a 12 percent expansion in the 2024 budget for infrastructure and social services.
Traoré’s economic pivot did not stop at minerals. He championed legislation to attract investment in cotton processing and vegetable oil production industries long hobbled by antiquated mills and weak transport links. New public–private partnerships were struck with investors in Turkey and the Gulf, aiming to modernize cotton ginneries in Koudougou and establish a sunflower oil hub in Bobo-Dioulasso. These projects, still in their early stages, promise to generate thousands of factory jobs and reduce Burkina’s €200 million annual import bill for edible oils.
On the diplomatic front, Traoré’s tenure has been marked by a dramatic break with the West and a strategic embrace of alternative partners. In February 2023, he ordered all French troops to leave, accusing Paris of neo-colonial interference. Within months, he and his counterparts in Mali and Niger founded the Alliance of Sahel States an axis that has since welcomed Russian private military contractors and reopened Moscow’s embassy in Ouagadougou. At the United Nations General Assembly in September 2024, Traoré delivered a fiery speech denouncing “foreign double standards” and promising a “pan-African renaissance under African leadership.” Though Western donors have frozen portions of their aid budgets, private grantors in the Gulf have stepped in with infrastructure loans, and Burkina Faso’s foreign exchange reserves have stabilized after a precipitous fall in early 2023.
Yet none of these sweeping changes have come without controversy. Media freedoms have tightened under a new information code that allows the junta to suspend outlets deemed “subversive,” and opposition figures report harassment and asset freezes. Human rights groups warn that an overemphasis on security risks alienating the very youths Traoré hopes to empower. The extended transition has also drawn ire from ECOWAS and the African Union, both of which maintain that Burkina cannot indefinitely defer elections.
Still, few dispute that the country’s macroeconomic picture has improved since late 2022. Growth forecasts from the West African Development Bank project 5.4 percent GDP expansion for 2025 nearly double the regional average driven by mining, agriculture, and nascent manufacturing. Inflation, which peaked at 15 percent in mid-2023, has fallen to around 8 percent as imported food costs stabilize and the CFA franc remains anchored to the euro. On the streets of Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso, new construction cranes dot the skyline, and government-sponsored microcredit schemes are empowering women entrepreneurs to open salons, bakeries, and ride-hailing services.
Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of Traoré’s tenure is the sense of ownership he has galvanized among ordinary Burkinabè. Soldiers recount nightly village patrols joined by schoolteachers; farmers describe meetings where local chiefs map out security perimeters alongside gendarmes; and traders speak of municipal councils that now allocate tax revenues for street lighting and waste collection rather than lining elite pockets. Whether these nascent democratic impulses will outlast the transition remains to be seen but for now, a critical mass of citizens say they feel, for the first time in years, that the state has their back.
As Burkina Faso stands at this crossroads its gold refinery humming, its farms yielding record harvests, and its borders more secure the world watches with a mix of hope and skepticism. Captain Traoré’s gamble on sovereignty, security, and economic self-reliance is rewriting the Sahel’s playbook. If stability continues and the coffers keep filling, his model could inspire a new generation of African leaders. If not, the hard-won gains risk unraveling under the weight of prolonged military rule. Either way, Traoré’s Burkina Faso is no longer the fragile state of old— it is a test case for whether audacious reform can tame chaos and propel growth in one of Africa’s most challenging theaters.
