Ibrahim Traoré Would Like to Be Thomas Sankara’s Heir
The Traoré government has also implemented a number of reforms in domestic and economic policy. A new mining law was adopted in July 2024 that promotes local processing of minerals and formalization of artisanal mining and grants the state the right to purchase shares of mining projects. The mandatory state share in a mine increased from 10 to 15 percent.
In August 2024, the government acquired two gold mines (out of twelve in the country, all operated by multinational mining companies) for US$90 million. It transferred them to the state-owned Société de Participation Minière du Burkina (SOPAMIB).
Prominent projects aimed at boosting the local economy include two tomato processing plants, which were largely financed by the state and inaugurated by Traoré in September and December 2024. Strengthening value creation in the country and increasing state participation in the mining sector have long been demands of social movements and radical civil society groups. Ironically, those demands are now being addressed by a government that has also proven to be repressive toward such movements and activists.
In fact, the military government has been able to implement its projects in part because there is effectively no institutional room for opposition and the scope for criticism by the media, social movements, and organized civil society is significantly limited. The civilian government under Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, who was ousted by Damiba’s coup in January 2020, had already restricted freedoms of assembly, expression, and the press, citing the terrorist threat, during Kaboré’s first term of as president (2015–19).
The activities of political parties have been suspended since October 2022. In February 2026, political parties and groups were formally dissolved. The Burkinabé Journalists’ Association was also dissolved in March 2025, and its president and vice president, as well as a number of other journalists, were forcibly detained. Some of the detained journalists later appeared in a video wearing military uniforms, having been conscripted to fight terrorism.
Control over the media is strong. The country’s most important independent radio station, Radio Oméga, was suspended in August–September 2023 when it broadcast an interview with a representative of a civil society organization on the coup in Niger. It was suspended again for three months in August 2025 after referring to the government as a “junta” — a term that the authorities deemed “inappropriate” as well as “prejudicial and offensive.”
Social media in particular plays a key — and problematic — role. While the possibilities for media coverage are limited, social media is heavily used to generate support for Traoré and his government. Traoré has become a star in this field within a very short time.
A significant part of the images and videos circulating on social media are AI-generated: praise for Traoré from Beyoncé, Justin Bieber, and Rihanna, for example, or a message from the pope. It is virtually impossible to trace how these videos came to be made.
The hype on social media has combined with a lack of alternative information and the strong desire, especially among the younger generation, for substantial change in political and economic structures, namely an end to neocolonial and imperialist exploitation and domination. This has led to Ibrahim Traoré being stylized as a Pan-Africanist revolutionary.
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