Burkina Faso Turns to Russia for Nuclear Power
Irabrahim Traore pictured with Vladimir Putin in August. Photo: Alexei Danichev/Reuters.
Ibrahim Traore, leader of Burkina Faso’s military junta, signed a deal with Rosatom, Russian state nuclear corporation, to construct a nuclear power plant on Friday. The construction of the plant is Burkina Faso’s latest effort to increase access to electricity for the 79 percent of their citizens currently living without power.
A third of Burkina Faso’s energy in 2019 came from oil products, while biofuels and industrial wastes played a large part in the energy supply as well. The country’s present installed power generation capacity is 420 megawatts, making Burkina Faso one of the least electrified countries globally.
This agreement comes out of Russia’s annual Energy Week after Traore and Putin engaged in initial negotiations at the Russia-Africa Summit late July. Russia had already promised free grain shipments to Burkina Faso, along with Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, Eritrea, and the Central African Republic, at the same summit.
The deal gives Russia a crucial role in infrastructure development in Burkina Faso, accompanied by Rosatom’s statement that this deal is “the first document in the field” of energy collaboration between the two countries. This growing role in development comes alongside a growing Russian military role in the region.
This deal is one of many efforts by Ibrahim Traore, Interim President of Burkina Faso, to grow closer with Russia since coming into power in September 2022. Traore’s position has been challenged already by a failed coup against the junta by Burkina Faso Armed Forces dissidents in late September.
Traore’s leadership is also threatened by Jihadist insurgent groups based in Burkina Faso and Mali, with Wagner Group recently providing aid to Mali against the same groups.
Supporters of Ibrahim Traore wave a Russian flag in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Photo: Sophie Garcie/AP Photo.
Burkina Faso is one of many Western African countries to lean on military aid from Russia and Wagner Group, Kremlin-affiliated private military corporation (PMC). Traore and Putin engaged in talks of possible military cooperation in August, and the Burkinabe-Russian relationship has been strengthened by this deal.
The nuclear deal comes alongside recent security talks between Putin and Assimi Goita, the president of neighboring Mali. The presence of Wagner Group in the region has been characterized by brutality, notably drawing allegations of human rights violations in conflicts in Mali in May.
President Traore called Russia a “strategic ally” and noted their supply of military assistance in a televised interview in May. Despite Traore’s past arms purchases from Russia and presence of Russian “instructors” in Burkina Faso, there is no evidence that Wagner mercenaries have fought on the ground for Traore’s junta in their fight against Jihadist insurgents, a notion that Traore denied in the same interview.
The deal moves Burkina Faso toward their established goal of 95 percent electricity access country-wide and 50 percent in rural areas by 2030. It also maintains Russia’s foothold in the area in the wake of the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of Wagner Group.