I was recently thinking about what is really happening in West Africa. Ibrahim Traoré, the president of Burkina Faso, is a figure that Western media prefer to ignore — and that is a mistake. The guy is 36 years old, educated as a geologist, and was an artillery officer. He has seen firsthand what’s happening in the Sahel — terrorism, poverty, foreign troops everywhere, and yet nothing changes.

In 2022, Traoré asked himself fundamental questions that most politicians are afraid to even consider. Why have billions in foreign aid changed nothing? Why have foreign armies been there for years, and security only worsens? Why do Africa’s mineral riches enrich foreigners rather than Africans themselves? These questions led him to action.

September 2022 — a coup d’état. He overthrew the Western-backed interim president and announced a new era. Since then, things have changed rapidly. French troops left, colonial-era agreements were broken. Western media and NGOs came under greater control. Ibrahim Traoré began building new partnerships — with Russia, China, Iran.

This is no longer the Burkina Faso that begs. It’s a country negotiating. Gazprom is helping develop the first large oil deposit. China is investing in infrastructure without sending troops. This is a model that should interest us.

What strikes me? Ibrahim Traoré not only talks about sovereignty — he is building it. As geopolitics shifts before our eyes, Burkina Faso is becoming a laboratory for a new order. Africa is awakening, and Traoré is one of its leaders who understand this. It’s no coincidence that Western media are silent about it. Worth watching.