2025 — Burkina Faso Backs Traoré

On April 30, 2025, thousands poured into Ouagadougou's Place de la Révolution to show support for Captain Ibrahim Traoré, and rallies spread across more than twenty countries. Traoré, just 36 when he took power in 2022, had become the face of a new pan-Africanism. After 2020, a string of military governments took power across the Sahel, rejecting France and turning toward new partners, and he stood at the center of that shift.

Supporters praised his nationalizations and land reforms; critics feared shrinking freedoms. April 30 was the day Africa's youngest leader got the loudest endorsement, and the debate still rages.