Burkinabe Leader, Ibrahim Traore inspecting with amezement, agro products from his reforms
…From Success in Tomato to Onions Farming Leader in W’Africa
Since the coming of the present leader of Burkina Faso, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, a lot of positive reforms have continued to show growth and stability especially in industrialization and good governance.
In the areas of industrial development, Traore has raised the bar in developing the hitherto moribund Tomato industry and today, Nigeria is importing tomato from Burkina Faso.
Latest industrial report shows that Burkina Faso of today was able to overtake Senegal, to become the 3rd biggest producer of onion in West Africa, and the 2nd largest exporter in the region, after Niger.
Analysts say the move will push Burkina Faso into leading the sub-Region in the business of AfCFTA.
With over 400,000 tonnes of Onions harvested, Faso is likely to become the 9th largest producer in Africa.
Checks in many Lagos markets show that majority of onions come from Burkina Faso since many Nigerian Northern farmers can hardly access their farms due to endless Fulani herders attacks.
But Who is Ibrahim Traoré
Ibrahim Traoré (born 14 March 1988) is a Burkinabé military officer who has been the interim leader of Burkina Faso since the September 2022 coup d’état that ousted interim president Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba.
At age 36, Traoré is currently the second youngest serving state leader in the world after Icelandic Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir, and the youngest serving president.
Though he was a Muslim, he fought terrorists out of his country within one year and then faced industrial developments that are now paying off.
Early life
Ibrahim Traoré was born in Kéra, Bondokuy, Mouhoun Province, on 14 March 1988. After receiving his primary education in Bondokuy, he attended a high school in Bobo-Dioulasso where he was known as being “quiet” and “very talented”. From 2006, he studied geology at the University of Ouagadougou. He was part of the Association of Muslim Students and the Marxist Association nationale des étudiants du Burkina (ANEB). In the latter, he rose to delegate and became known for defending his classmates in disputes. He graduated from the university with honors.
Military career
Traoré joined the Army of Burkina Faso in 2009, and graduated from the Georges-Namoano Military Academy. He was sent to Morocco for anti-aircraft training before being transferred to an infantry unit in Kaya, a town in northern Burkina Faso. Promoted to lieutenant in 2014, Traoré joined MINUSMA, a United Nations peacekeeping force involved in the Mali War. In 2018, he was cited as one of the MINUSMA soldiers who “showed courage” during major rebel attacks in the Tombouctou Region. He subsequently returned to Burkina Faso where he assisted in operations against the escalating jihadist insurgency. Traoré fought at Djibo, in the “Otapuanu offensive” of 2019, and several other counter-insurgency operations in the country’s north.
He was promoted to captain in 2020. Traoré later claimed that he became disillusioned with his country’s leadership around this time, as he saw the widespread lack of equipment of Burkinabe soldiers, while politicians were handing out “suitcases of money” for bribery. He gradually became the spokesman for soldiers stationed in the north who were frustrated over their government.
Rise to power
Traoré was part of the group of army officers that supported the January 2022 Burkina Faso coup d’état and brought the Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration military junta to power.
