Dr. Gnaka Lagoke
Burkina Faso Captain Ibrahim Traore, Symbol of the Global Pan-African Resistance: Keys to Understand the Phenomenon
Pan-Africanism, defined as the spirit of unity and solidarity of Africa and its peoples, has been claiming several victories. Whether through a popular uprising that brought officers to power as in Mali (2021), or by a military coup as in Burkina Faso (2022), or through a palace revolution as in Niger (2023), or by an election as in Senegal (2024), Pan-Africanism is in vogue and living a new life. It is a new golden age of Pan-Africanism. The leaders who represent that new wave are advocating and promoting African sovereignty, Pan-African preference in Africa’s trading with the outside world, and the imperative for Africa to diversify its economic and political partners.
Since the second half of April 2025, the Pan-African world seems to have reached a consensus that Captain Ibrahim Traore, the President of Burkina Faso, is the torch bearer of the global Pan-African movement. The wave of support for Ibrahim Traore which stormed the internet and spread on various social media platforms like wildfires was a reaction to an act seen by many as despicable, that of Michael Langley, Chief Commander of the Africa Command (AFRICOM). The American General falsely accused Ibrahim Traore of using his country’s gold reserves for his personal safety, thus suggesting that he is a corrupt leader. In this article, I intend to explain the Ibrahim Traore phenomenon.
There are five keys to understanding and interpreting the Ibrahim Traore phenomenon. These are as follows: Burkina Faso, the Land of a Permanent Revolution; Burkina Faso New Revolution under Ibrahim Traore; The Continent’s Search for a Torch Bearer; Africa’s Historical memory and the Tragedy of African Leadership; the Internet Revolution and the Artificial Intelligence Game Changer.
Burkina Faso Land of a Permanent Revolution
This Latin expression “Ex Africa sempere aliquid novi” which translates as “Out of Africa, always something new” is applicable to Burkina Faso regarding the germination of revolutions. Since its independence in 1960, that country has experienced four revolutions. The previous three revolutions occurred respectively on January 3rd, 1966, August 4th, 1983, and October 28th-30th, 2014. The third revolution concerns the Burkinabe people power movement dubbed “Compaoré must go”, which removed from power President Blaise Compaore, the very man who had masterminded the assassination on October 15, 1987 of Thomas Sankara. The slain leader was the architect of the second revolution. Twenty-eight years later, the memory of his spirit and energy nourished and fueled the Compaore must go movement, which almost failed in 2015 due to a countercoup, supported by the Ivory Coast regime led by Alassane Ouattara, had it not been for the mobilization of the people of Burkina Faso. The values of Thomas Sankara serve as a driving force behind the renewal of Pan-Africanism. They inspire also the unfolding fourth revolution led by Captain Ibrahim Traoré, who came to power at age 34 on September 30, 2022. He deposed Lieutenant Colonel Damiba who had overthrown the civilian Roch Kabore. The rise of a young captain at the helms of power in Burkina Faso reminded many of the moment of Sankara’s governing style. However, reactionary forces have been plotting to get rid of Ibrahim Traore who so far has escaped several assassinations attempts and coups d’état.
Burkina Faso Revolution under Captain Ibrahim Traore
Following the Malian Revolution, Captain Ibrahim Traoré asked the French army to leave his country. He claimed the right to trade and have closer relations with whomever he wished. Burkina Faso started trading with Turkey, North Korea, Iran and the Federation of Russia. The latter provided the strategic military assistance to contain the terrorists who occupy 50% of the Burkinabe territory.
Even if he did not claim an endogenous African value system for the Pan-African development he is promoting, such as Maaya and Burkindi, which mean collectivism and humanism respectively in Bambara and in More, Captain Ibrahim Traore understood that for a revolution to be successful, it must be embedded in history, memory and culture. He created the conditions for the extension of the domestication of the cotton culture and for the expansion of Faso dan Fani (the handwoven national cloth). It is mandatory now in Burkina Faso to wear Faso dan Fani once a week in school and at work. Ibrahim Traore decreed a National Day of Burkina Culture and Traditions which is celebrated every May 15. Under his leadership, the works of the Thomas Sankara Mausoleum resumed. Even though some aspects of the Mausoleum are yet to be completed, Ibrahim Traore inaugurated it on May 17, 2025, in the presence of prominent guests such as Ousmane Sonko, Senegal Prime Minister who also claims Thomas Sankara’s legacy and Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, former Head of the African Union Commission, Chief Architect of Agenda 2063.
If all those actions seem powerfully symbolic, Captain Traore undertook some security and development projects which are quite impressive. He refused the IMF and World Bank loans in line with the spirit of self-reliance. He undertook the execution of major construction projects. The company overseeing these projects is called Faso Mebo. Mebo in More means “to build,” thus the company is called Building Faso. Military engineering is at the heart of these major works. One of the goals is to pave between 3,000 and 5,000 kms per year. Some streets in major cities and rural roads have already been paved and asphalted. Hundreds of young people have been trained as laborers. Another project that was initiated is called Faso Yarr. This involves large stores selling necessities at low prices. In the agricultural sector, the state is developing plans through drilling wells to enable year-round production on arable land that previously produced only one harvest per year. The state also distributed farming machinery and fertilizers to the farmers. Burkina Faso also committed to wheat and cocoa production. A tomato processing plant was created in Bobo Dioulasso, the second largest city.
Another sector in which Burkina Faso has made a tangible revolution is the mining sector. The government created a gold reserve to store the country’s gold. Captain Traore decided to nationalize two gold mines, is planning to nationalize many more, and to extend the nationalization agenda to several aspects of the economy. There is now a new mining code that stipulates that the state’s share should increase from 10% to 15% and that each foreign company should open its shareholding to local Burkinabe investors. These reforms were the ones which specifically infuriated the AFRICOM Commander to the point of falsely accusing Captain Ibrahim Traore of using the gold reserves of the country for his personal safety and security. Burkina Faso is also building a modern airport with international standards in the outskirts of its capital Ouagadougou. On the health front, the fees for dialysis (1,000 dollars) for kidney patients were waived.
In a Burkina Faso facing terrorism, security is the top priority. Captain Traore equipped his army to enable it to reconquer territories lost to the terrorists. Tens of thousands of young people have been mobilized to defend their homeland. They are called Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland. Captain Traore expanded their number and increased their pay. They now number around 50,000. Their monthly salary increased from $50 to $140. The private sector is also following suit. A large shopping complex Ouaga Mall is planned for the capital Ouagadougou, and an indigenous electrical car company, Itaoua, with local resources and expertise, is putting cars on the road with the mark “Sahel” to reinforce in the consciousness of Burkina Faso citizens and Africans the value of the revolution in force.
The regime’s ingenuity lies in its ability to mobilize funds internally to support the country’s security and economic sovereignty needs. Two structures were created for this purpose. The first is the Patriotic Support Fund, which raises funds for the smooth running of the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland missions. The second is the Entrepreneurship Promotion Agency, which mobilizes local popular funding for the implementation of various development projects. These above-mentioned achievements reinforced Captain Traore’s credibility and legitimacy.
The Continent Search for a Torch Bearer
Since the assassination of Kadhafi in 2011 and the death of Nelson Mandela in 2013, the Pan-African community has been looking for a unifier to step into their shoes. In recent years, leaders have emerged one after the other and have sparked enthusiasm to be the unifying leaders of the Pan-African movement. There was Ousmane Sonko of Senegal, leader of PASTEF, who led a struggle for the economic and cultural decolonization of his country and Africa while in the opposition. His party under the leadership of President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, in power since 2024, is also implementing a self-reliant and self-sufficient developmental agenda. In the case of Senegal, the IMF simply upheld its funding. Assimi Goita in Mali, who led an exemplary resistance of the Malian people against imperialist forces, symbolizes the banner of the Pan-African struggle. His heroism, leadership and guidance helped Burkina Faso and Niger solidify their respective revolutions. These three officers, Assimi Goita (Mali), Ibrahim Traore (Burkina Faso), and Abdrahamane Tchiani (Niger), have been dubbed by Pan-Africanists as the continent’s great Pan-Africanist revolutionaries.
Since the second half of April 2025, the Pan-African world came in agreement that Captain Ibrahim Traore, the President of Burkina Faso has risen as the undisputed face of Pan-African global resistance, uniting the continent and the entire diaspora. And for a good reason! During a hearing before the U.S. Congress ahead of an African tour that took him to Benin and Ivory Coast in April 2025, AFRICOM Commander General Michael Langley was asked by a U.S. Senator to provide an example of corruption in governance. In response, he stated that Captain Ibrahim Traoré of Burkina Faso, who nationalized the gold mines, was the most striking example of a corrupt leader, allegedly using financial resources from his country’s gold for his personal security. His statement was counterproductive. African activists, particularly Black people from the United States and the Caribbean, expressed their solidarity with the Burkinabe leader committed to regaining his country’s sovereignty.
The AFRICOM Commander’s statement was perceived as a threat emanating from an institution accused of criminal inaction in the face of terrorism that is causing grief to African populations and suspected of having been behind coups d’état in Africa. The perceived threat revived the specter of the tragedy of African leadership. A frenzy took hold of netizens who used their different social media platforms on Internet to express their feelings of outrage, outcry, uproar, and to show support to the President of Burkina Faso, Captain Ibrahim Traore. Many of them put out videos to say they have been praying for him and expressing solidarity with Burkina Faso which had planned to organize several rallies and meetings of support of its leader. April 30 was dubbed “Day of Solidarity for Ibrahim Traore and Burkina Faso.”
On April 30, 2025, hundreds of thousands of people organized marches and rallies under the banner of “Hands off Captain Ibrahim Traore; Hands off Burkina Faso” in several cities in Burkina Faso. In several African regions (Ghana, South Africa, Tanzania), in other parts of the world, such as Jamaica, Haiti, the USA, France, England and Germany, hundreds of thousands of other people organized rallies of solidarity with Burkina Faso. Opinion leaders of other races added their voices to that resistance. They called out AFRICOM, the United States of America, and France, which they suspect of seeking to physically eliminate Burkinabe President Captain Ibrahim Traoré. The specter of Captain Ibrahim Traore’s potential assassination leads to the discussion of African historical memory and to the tragedy of African leadership.
African Historical Memory and Tragedy of African Leadership
Even though generations of Africans do not have the full understanding of the systems of exploitation their ancestors and several generations endured, they know of the Berlin Conference (1884-1885) which epitomized colonialism. Even though they know little about the Battle of Ceuta (1415), which was the inflexion point in the history of slavery, they know they have a common experience with several groups of Afro descendants scattered across the globe. They know that Africa and its peoples have suffered from slavery, colonialism, apartheid, confederacy, segregation, neoliberalism, and globalization. This is part of the African Historical Memory.
They know also of the pogroms of the masses and the tragedy of the leaders who tried to defend the interests of Africa and the Global African communities. Europeans resorted to various methods to break them and destroy their spirit of self-determination. The most recent political elimination of an African leader was that of Muammar Kadhafi, former leader of Libya who became the face of Pan-Africanism despite several of his misdeeds. He was assassinated by the NATO forces in 2011. Laurent Gbagbo of Ivory Coast saw his presidential palace bombed by the UN and French forces in 2011 and was taken to the International Criminal Court prison. The revolutionary leader of Grenada, Maurice Bishop, was assassinated on October 19, 1983. In the case of Burkina Faso, Thomas Sankara, architect of a revolution in the 1980’s was assassinated by Blaise Compaore with the involvement of foreign forces.
An example of the challenge to African leadership is France’s imperial rage and ostracism against Sékou Touré of Guinea-Conakry, who said “No” on September 28, 1958, to General de Gaulle’s plan to establish the Franco-African Community. Several assassinations, imprisonments and overthrows marked the consciousness of Africa and its peoples. There were the assassination of Ruben Um Nyobè (September 13, 1958), the assassination or disappearance of Barthélémy Boganda (1959), the assassination of Félix Moumié (November 3, 1960), the assassination of Patrice Lumumba (January 17, 1961), the assassination of Sylvanus Olympio (January 13, 1963), the imprisonment of Nelson Mandela (June 12, 1964), the assassination of Malcolm X (February 21, 1965), the overthrow of Ahmed Ben Bella (June 19, 1965), the overthrow of Kwame Nkrumah (February 24, 1966), the assassination of Dr Martin Luther King (April 4, 1968), the overthrow of Modibo Kéita (November 19, 1968). These violations of justice fueled the uproar against AFRICOM, thanks to the information technology revolution.
The Internet Revolution and the Artificial Intelligence Game Changer
The invention of the internet and the subsequent revolution in the fields of new information technologies led to the creation of social media such as Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, Snap Chat, and Twitter (X). As much as these media are helping to transform the world into a global village, they are also contributing to Africa’s collective consciousness and to the expansion of Pan-Africanism in the 21st century.
On these social media, there is an influx and flow of debate that transcends the geographical and linguistic boundaries of African countries and consolidates the Pan-African consciousness. Since the revolution in the Sahel States emerged, nationalists and Pan-Africanists who want to see Africa regain its sovereignty have been paying attention. They have taken sides and support patriotism embodied by the leaders of the Sahel over most of the ECOWAS leaders who are not doing enough to break loose from the Europeans. The actions and initiatives of the Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso leaders towards the sovereignty of Africa are praised in many fora and platforms and on social media. In the beginning it was Assimi Goita of Mali who sparked the series of revolutions. Gradually, the youngest rose to global fame because he has been the most vocal of the three; and his speeches put more light on his actions and achievements. Besides the contribution of Pan-African media, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube helped counter the narrative of the mainstream media which positioned themselves against Africa’s self-determination.
With the internet, French-language videos are subtitled and translated into English on Facebook and YouTube in real time. Added to this is an AI voice cloning option which enables viewers to hear the captain speaking in English or other languages, thereby expanding the videos’ reach. Thus, Ibrahim Traore’s speeches, interviews, and appearances are immediately available in English. His trips to Russia were highly publicized. And his speeches went viral. Radical praise poured out from all sides. For some, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, born in 1988, was the reincarnation of Captain Thomas Sankara, killed in 1987. For others, he had become the face of global resistance of Africa and its diaspora against imperialism and neocolonialism.
When General Langley infamously targeted Ibrahim Traore, nationalists around the world responded and expressed their opposition to his speech, seen as a sign that AFRICOM was thinking of eliminating the young Captain. They decided then to express solidarity with Ibrahim Traore and the people of Burkina Faso. Tired of seeing African leaders assassinated and still remembering the tragedies of leaders such as Thomas Sankara, Muammar Gaddafi, Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther King, and Maurice Bishop, they have vented their anger against imperialism. The wave of support for Captain Ibrahim Traore was a moment of Pan-African pride and dignity. Observing this phenomenon, Maurice Carney, leader of the Friends of Congo, declared that it demonstrated that Pan-Africanism has now entered the world of pop culture. He added that this was the ultimate proof that Pan-Africanism was now seen as a vital necessity for African elites and masses. Captain Ibrahim Traore is seen as the frontline of global liberation and the face and the symbol of the Pan-African struggle or of the Global Pan-African resistance.
Dr. Gnaka Lagoke
Associate Professor of History and Pan-Africana Studies
Lincoln University (PA)
[email protected]