Skip to content

Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso Nationalizes United Kingdom Gold Mines

Burkina Faso will nationalize two gold mines at a cost of about US $80 million. The Boungou and Wahgnion mines were sold last year by London-listed Endeavour Mining to Lilium Mining for US $300 million. On August 27, the mines were purchased by Burkina Faso’s government for a fraction of this cost. “This strategic move is aimed at reclaiming Burkina Faso’s mineral wealth,” said Joe Hotagua of African Streams, “ensuring that a larger portion of the profits benefits Burkinabe people.” Endeavour Mining is based in London, UK, and claims to be the largest gold producer in West Africa. It also possesses assets in Senegal and Ivory Coast. Recently, allegations of serious misconduct have been levied against its mining operations in Ivory Coast.

Mali And Niger Break Diplomatic Relations With Ukraine

Since the beginning of the Russian Special Military Operation in Ukraine, the African continent has become a major battleground in the renewed Cold War between Moscow and Washington. In recent weeks in response to an attack by rebels in the north of Mali in Tinzaoten, the military government based in Bamako has revealed that Ukrainian military forces were involved in an ambush against its soldiers and Russian security advisors on July 27. Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso have formed an Alliance of Sahel States (AES) which has formerly broken with the western-backed Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

AES First Summit: Burkina Faso President Delivers Historic Speech

On 6th July 2024, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger officially created the Alliance of Sahel States Confederation. In this historic address, Captain Ibrahim Traoré delivers a powerful and inspiring speech at the 1st Summit of Heads of State of AES (African Economic and Security) Member Countries With a focus on unity, economic cooperation, and regional security, Captain Traoré emphasizes the importance of collaboration among member states to foster sustainable development and stability across the continent. His speech highlights key initiatives and strategies to enhance economic growth, strengthen security measures, and promote peace and prosperity within the AES region.

The Sahel Stands Up; The World Must Pay Attention

On July 6 and 7, the leaders of the three main countries in Africa’s Sahel region—just south of the Sahara Desert—met in Niamey, Niger, to deepen their Alliance of Sahel States (AES). This was the first summit of the three heads of state of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, who now constitute the Confederation of the AES. This was not a hasty decision, since it had been in the works since 2023 when the leaders and their associates held meetings in Bamako (Mali), Niamey (Niger), and Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso); in May 2024, in Niamey, the foreign ministers of the three countries had developed the elements of the Confederation.

Iran’s President Raisi Joined BRICS, Pushed For Multipolar World

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash on May 19, left behind a legacy of working to build a more multipolar world. Under Raisi, Iran joined BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Global South-led institutions that he noted could challenge US unilateralism and hegemony. The late Iranian leader advocated a “Look East” strategy, strengthening relations with China, Russia, and other countries in Asia. Raisi represented a more nationalist wing of the political class in Tehran, which sees the futility of trying to win Western approval, and instead recognizes that Iran’s political and economic future lies in deepening integration with the Global South.

Is US Imperialism Maneuvering Toward ‘Humanitarian Intervention’ In Burkina Faso?

Western NGOs like Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Western state-funded news outlets such as the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and Voice of America (VOA) are not merely consistent in siding with imperialism. They are extensions of it. This must be kept in mind when attempting to understand why the African nation Burkina Faso suspended the radio broadcasts of BBC Africa and VOA for two weeks over their coverage of an HRW report. On April 27, 2024, Burkina Faso’s Communications Minister, Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouedraog issued a statement that said...

The Sahel’s ‘Axis Of Resistance’

The emergence of in various geographies is an inextricable byproduct of the long and winding process leading us toward a multipolar world. These two things – resistance to the Hegemon and the emergence of multipolarity – are absolutely complementary. The Axis of Resistance in West Asia – across Arab and Muslim states – now finds as its soul sister the Axis of Resistance spanning the Sahel in Africa, west to east, from Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger to Chad, Sudan, and Eritrea. Unlike Niger, where the change in power against neocolonialism was associated with a military coup, in Senegal, the power change comes straight from the polls.

Venezuela Presents Anti-Blockade Policies To Burkina Faso Delegation

This Wednesday, Venezuelan vice minister for anti-blockade policy, William Castillo, made a presentation to the visiting delegation from Burkina Faso. Castillo’s presentation covered the impact on Venezuela’s economy of the illegal coercive measures—euphemistically referred to as “sanctions”—imposed by the US and its vassals and spoke about how Venezuela has overcome them. In a statement, Castillo wrote that both parties agreed that “the sanctions are part of an illegal and criminal foreign policy and of a model of neocolonialism that uses attacks on the economy as a spearhead for the geopolitical control of free nations.” Burkina Faso also faces sanctions imposed by the European Union.

Mali, Burkina Faso, And Niger Withdraw From ECOWAS

In a televised statement on Sunday, January 28, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger announced their withdrawal from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Their exit has shrunk the regional bloc, condemned by West Africa’s popular movements as an agent of French imperialism, to less than half its previous size, given the relatively vast expanse of Mali and Niger in the region. Reduced from 15 member states to 12, ECOWAS has nevertheless said that the three countries, against whom it was set to go to war last year, “remain important members,” although it had already suspended and sanctioned them.

Mali Warns Against Repeat Of NATO’s Libyan War In Niger

France’s ambassador to Niger, Sylvain Itté, left Niamey early on September 27, three days after Paris announced that it would also withdraw its 1,500 troops from the West African country by the end of the year. Niger has joined its regional neighbors, Mali and Burkina Faso, in expelling French troops from its soil. The three countries have since forged a pact for collective defense and mutual cooperation, known as the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), amid rising attacks by armed groups in the region. The AES was formed just days before the 78th session of the United National General Assembly.

Is This The End Of French Neo-Colonialism In Africa?

In Bamako, Mali, on September 16, the governments of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger created the Alliance of Sahel States (AES). On X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, Colonel Assimi Goïta, the head of the transitional government of Mali, wrote that the Liptako-Gourma Charter which created the AES would establish “an architecture of collective defense and mutual assistance for the benefit of our populations.” The hunger for such regional cooperation goes back to the period when France ended its colonial rule. Between 1958 and 1963, Ghana and Guinea were part of the Union of African States, which was to have been the seed for wider pan-African unity. Mali was a member as well between 1961 and 1963.

France Out Of Africa, US And NATO Too: Activists Picket The United Nations GA

On Tuesday September 19, the opening day of the United Nations General Assembly, anti-imperialist activists rallied outside the UN Headquarters in New York City to demand that France end its imperialist meddling in West Africa and the Sahel. Organizers with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, the December 12th Movement, Bridging Africa and Black America, and others denounced the neocolonial policies of the European nation and voiced solidarity and support to Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea, and Niger, which recently underwent coups opposing French neocolonialism. Activists demanded that France end its neocolonial exploits in the Sahel, principally Niger. 

Burkina Faso, Mali, And Niger Form Alliance Of Sahel States

In a major advancement towards mutual cooperation, the governments of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger have formed the Alliance of Sahel States (AES). The move was finalized with the signing of the Liptako-Gourma Charter, named after the tri-border region shared by the three countries, in Mali’s capital Bamako on Saturday, September 16. “This alliance will be a combination of military and economic efforts between the three countries…Our priority is the fight against terrorism,” Malian Defense Minister Abdoulaye Diop told journalists. The three countries have committed to “prevent, manage, and resolve any armed rebellion or threat to the territorial integrity and sovereignty…

No Respite For France As A ‘New Africa’ Rises

By adding two new African member-states to its roster, last week's summit in Johannesburg heralding the expanded BRICS 11 showed once again that Eurasian integration is inextricably linked to the integration of Afro-Eurasia. Belarus is now proposing to hold a joint summit between BRICS 11, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), and the Eurasia Economic Union (EAEU).  President Aleksandr Lukashenko's vision for the convergence of these multilateral organizations may, in due time, lead to the Mother of All Multipolarity Summits. But Afro-Eurasia is a much more complicated proposition.

Victoria Nuland Appeared ‘Desperate’ During Africa Tour

When US Acting Deputy Secretary of State, Victoria Nuland, traveled to South Africa on July 29, her reputation as a blunt instrument of Washington’s hegemonic interests preceded her. According to a veteran South African official who attended meetings with the senior US diplomat in Pretoria, however, Nuland and her team were demonstrably unprepared to grapple with recent developments on the African continent — particularly the military coup that removed Niger’s pro-Western government hours before she launched her multi-stop tour of the region. “In over 20 years working with the Americans, I have never seen them so desperate,” the official told The Grayzone, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Sign Up To Our Daily Digest

Independent media outlets are being suppressed and dropped by corporations like Google, Facebook and Twitter. Sign up for our daily email digest before it’s too late so you don’t miss the latest movement news.