Journey through the Sahel: Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso: In Transition

Sahel, July 2025

Leaving Mali, the 5 of us continue to Burkina Faso. We fly with Air Burkina, on a plane leased by Ghadames Air.

Air Burkina boarding pass

Flying with obscure airlines is oddly exciting

Of the four countries we will visit on this journey through the Sahel, this is the one I have been looking forward to the most, not least because of Burkina Faso’s young, bold new leader, who is bringing hope, not only to his country, but all over West Africa.*

In Burkina Faso, we visit the creative capital Ouagadougou, affectionately known as Ouaga by the Burkinabé, and the UNESCO-listed Royal Court of Tiébélé, where art and identity are literally etched into the walls. But first…

Along the road in Burkina Faso

Sankara and Traoré: Revolution and Resilience

The ideals of Thomas Sankara still resonate in Burkina Faso, and the current leader Ibrahim Traoré is creating new history in real time. The country’s modern history and political landscape is to a large extent shaped by these two defining figures.

Thomas Sankara: The Che Guevara of Africa

Thomas Sankara was the revolutionary leader of the 1980s. He became president through a popular coup in 1983, and quickly got a lot of attention world-wide for his anti-imperialist, Pan-Africanist vision, and making sweeping changes right off the bat. He began by changing the country’s name from Upper Volta to Burkina Faso, Land of Upright People, and launching comprehensive reforms in education, health care, women’s rights, and self-reliance. It is not hard to see how he became known as Africa’s very own Che Guevara.

A true socialist

Sankara practiced what he preached. He

reduced the salaries of well-paid public servants, and made them pay the equivalent of a month’s salary to public projects
made it illegal for government officials to fly first-class and have chauffeurs
sold off the government’s Mercedes fleet and replaced them with cheap Renault 5s
banned air condition in government offices, including his own, since that luxury was only available to a few
decreased his own salary to the equivalent of 450 USD/month, less than half the then average for African leaders
converted the army’s supply shop to Burkina Faso’s first super-market, open to everyone
didn’t want his portrait on every wall, because ‘There are seven million Thomas Sankaras’
was opposed to foreign aid, and famously said ‘He who feeds you, controls you.’
banned forced marriages, polygamy and female genital mutilation
appointed women to high positions in the government and the military
promoted contraception, and encouraged girls to stay in school, even if pregnant
initiated a national literacy campaign and a vaccination programme for meningitis, yellow fever and measles

And – fun fact – he was a skilled guitarist, and wrote Burkina Faso’s national anthem himself.

You won’t be surprised to learn this was not popular amongst the establishment. Thomas was assassinated in October 1987, (20 years and 6 days after Che), but his ideals remain powerful still. You can see him on murals, and hear him in the voices of young Burkinabé who see him as a symbol of what the country could still become.

In 2023, on the anniversary of his assassination, Boulevard Charles de Gaulle, one of Ouagadougou’s main roads, was renamed Boulevard Capitaine Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara.

Place Thomas Sankara - the memorial honouring the revolutionary 1980's leader of Burkina Faso

Place Thomas Sankara in Ouagadougou – memorial honouring the revolutionary leader

While revolutionaries as individuals can be murdered, you cannot kill ideas.

Thomas Sankara

Ibrahim Traoré: A new generation of leadership

Fast forward to September 2022, when a young military officer, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, leads a coup, citing the government’s failure to deal with the rise in jihadist violence. At 37, he is presently the world’s youngest head of state, steering the country through a turbulent transition. Traoré is a disciple of Sankara’s ideology of national sovereignty, anti-corruption, and African unity.

Like so many West African countries, Burkina Faso has no time for their former colonisers. From the very beginning, the relationship with France was strained. On 5 September 1896, French forces entered Ouagadougou and burned the city to the ground. Not exactly a good start. We can understand the resentment.

Under Traoré’s rule, the country has distanced itself from Western alliances, especially France, and in February 2023, French armed forces formally withdrew from Burkina Faso. Meanwhile, Traoré has been seeking regional partnerships, as well as closer military ties with Russia. Sounds like a double-edged sword, that.

But the baton of righteousness has been passed, and I’m curious to see if Burkina Faso will actually reach its goal of complete self-governance and self-reliance. Either way, Ibrahim Traoré is an interesting character. Let’s hope his security detail is up to their job.

Ouagadougou

Despite the political uncertainty, Ouaga remains a city of creativity and resilience. Burkina’s crafty capital is often called the cultural heartbeat of West Africa, and is a place where traditional music and dance are not just entertainment, but a vital expression of identity.

As capital cities go, is there a cooler name? I don’t think so!

Monument des Martyrs

The eye-catching Monument of National Heroes in the Ouaga 2000 neighbourhood.

La mosquée de Kanazoé

64% of Burkinabé are Muslims, mainly Sunni. Ca. 23% belong to various Christian denominations and 9% follow traditional beliefs.

The new Kanazoe Mosque, also in the Ouaga 2000 district

Village Artisanal de Ouagadougou

We stop by the crafts village, much too briefly.

Inside, I am drawn to the metal works, especially to these sculptures of colourfully dressed women, so I buy a one. In a red dress. She will be perfect on a bookshelf at home.

Seated, second from the right

She makes it through Ouagadougou’s airport security, my little woman. But a few days later, in Niamey, she is deemed a danger, a potential weapon, and is confiscated, along with a pair of tweezers and a disposable razor. Bit on the zealous side, Niger’s security.

I’m sad to have to give her up. That’s the downside of travelling with carry-on only.

Marche Betails Sougr-Nooma, the animal market

Vitali has been wanting to buy a goat and invite us all to a feast. It’s not happening here in Burkina Faso.

Looks like you’ll live to see another day, kid

Cour Royale de Tiébélé: where tradition is painted in clay

Burkina Faso is facing security challenges, especially in border areas up north. Best to steer clear of that. Instead, we are heading south-east to Tiébélé, an excursion that takes most of a day. It is a good 3.5-hour drive from Ouaga.

Far from the politics of the capital, is the village of Tiébélé, famous for its Royal Court, a collection of hand-decorated clay houses painted with symbolic geometric patterns, using natural colouring.

A window into Burkina Faso’s living heritage

A little detour into politics

We’re now only 15 km from the place where southern Burkina Faso meets northern Ghana. Back in Sankara’s day, relations between the two became friendly and close. They cooperated in a number of areas: joint military exercises, free exchange of goods and services, road, air and telecommunication links across the border. There was even talk of uniting Burkina Faso and Ghana. After all, the border was set by colonial powers, an artificial line, drawn with little or no regard to ethnic ties.

Back to Tiébélé

The Kasena people, one of oldest ethnic groups in Burkina Faso, have lived here since the 1500s.

This is still very much a living, breathing community, where the Kasena king and his family members live inside the compound.

The adobe style houses are built with a mix of earth, wood, straw, and cow dung, and arranged according to status. Houses for the elderly, widows, single women and children have a figure-8 floor plan. Houses for unmarried men are circular, and those for young, married couples are quadrangular.

Every house is a work of art, and every wall tells a story.

Only women are allowed to decorate the houses.

Visitors are welcomed as guests—so long as they approach with respect.

In addition to the homes, there are mausolea, memorials and shrines, holy groves and stone courts.

Outside the compound, curious kids pose…

…and this woman offers us lukewarm homebrew.

Next time in Ouaga…

As our trip to Tiébélé takes most of a day, we sadly don’t have time to see enough of Ouaga.

In this journey through the Sahel, Ouagadougou is the one place I especially would have liked to have more time. In calmer days, I’ll come back and visit the Musée National du Burkina Faso, and the National Museum of Music, for the content, and also for the cool Sudanese-Sahelian style of architecture, domes n’all.

And I’d like to amble about in Parc Urbain Bangr-Weoogo, a 2.6km2 urban green space. In the old days, this was a sacred forest, but the French didn’t care and turned it into a park, plain and simple. Though it seems to me the current name – urban park of the forest of knowledge – kinda covers both. You can see crocs, snakes, and various species of birds here, too.

Favourite eats

We have dinner at Belle Etoile Ouagadougou, enjoying the cosy garden atmosphere.

Update September 2025

*Since July, changes have been made in Burkina Faso. Bad changes. On 1 September, the military transitional legislative assembly passed a new law, criminalising consensual same‑sex relations, imposing 2 – 5 years prison terms and fines for people convicted of homosexual acts, and “behaviour likely to promote homosexual practices.” Apparently, as in many African countries, it is seen as contrary to African family values. Major setback for humanity with that one, Traoré!

This journey through the Sahel covers Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad.