I remember the first time I landed in Dakar. The light felt like brass on the skin and the air tasted faintly of salt and bissap. On Gorée Island the stones seemed to whisper, and I left with a...
In 2003, as Darfur was burning, it wasn’t the West or the UN that stepped up. It was the African Union. With the world watching from the sidelines, the Janjaweed militias, armed and emboldened by Sudan’s government, unleashed terror...
African Food Sovereignty: A Matter of Life, Death, and Revival
The African table is set. Not with the hearty, vibrant meals of millet and roasted plantains but with fast food burgers, soda cans, and instant noodles. This tableau of modern...
In 2009, with a degree in hand and a burning desire to serve his country, Traoré joined the Burkinabè army. This decision wasn’t driven by the desire for glory or personal gain; rather, it stemmed from a profound sense...
Kaya sits calmly 100 kilometers northeast of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso’s capital. It’s the fifth-largest town and home to roughly 100,000 people. In January 2022, Captain Ibrahim Traoré was one of these people. He was part of the Army’s 10th...
What had started as rage in the streets of Ouagadougou became, for Traoré, a revelation. Although just another cog in the machine of Compaoré’s army, the events of October 30th opened his eyes to a deeper truth: the people...
The recent exposé on counterfeit subsidized fertilizers being sold to Kenyan farmers has has lifted the lid on the pitfalls of fertilizers. However, this disturbing incident represents merely the tip of an iceberg - a symptom of a deeper,...
Traore was also concerned that the presence of hundreds of French soldiers in the fight against jihadists hadn’t made a difference. A 2018 military accord between France and Burkina Faso had paved the way for France to send its...
Just a few weeks later, on a Friday evening, the jihadists committed an atrocious and sacrilegious attack. They stormed the Grand Mosque in the village of Salmossi and killed fifteen worshippers. Fifteen people, executed in their place of worship....
October 30, 2014. Dust and smoke hung like a cloud in Ouagadougou’s hot streets. Burnt shells and tear gas canisters littered the crowded streets. Smoke curled into the sky like distant storm clouds. In the streets below, thousands surged,...
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