African Nations Don't Want To Accept European Welfare So why is The West Mad?
Burkina Faso is a low-income Sahelian country with unlimited natural resources valued in the trillions. Its economy is largely based on agriculture, although gold exports are on the rise. More than 40% of the population lives below the poverty line. It is also a key location for the Nigeria to Europe Oil pipeline and its new leaders are wondering why they aren't being paid for the service? Burkina Faso ranks 184th out of 191 countries in the 2021–2022 HDI report of the United Nations Development Program and there is no reason it should be so low except for the lack of leadership with Burkina Faso's best interest at heart! (UNDP). Now That has changed and no Western powers seem to be happy about that.
After the September 30, 2022 coup that overthrew Lieutenant Colonel Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba, Captain Ibrahim Traoré an advocate for empowering the youth and demanding that the rich in Burkina Faso pay their fair share in supporting the growth of the country, was sworn in as the new transitional president on October 21, 2022. Under the Transition Charter, he will not be eligible to run in the next presidential elections.
The transition process is being implemented by three main organs: the President of Burkina Faso, the transitional government with a civilian prime minister, and a transitional legislative assembly. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union long thought to be tools of the west and many fearful of being overthrown for abuses in their own countries have suspended Burkina Faso from their decision-making bodies until so=called constitutional order is restored. However, ECOWAS and the transitional authorities have agreed to the 24-month transition timeline as public sentiment globally was in full support of the coup and its direction of African self improvement..
Since 2015, the country has been the target of terrorist attacks funded from foreign sources, that have resulted in population displacements. While there were fewer than 50,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the country in January 2019, this number stood at over 1.8 million by December 31, 2022. And the funding is not coming from any African nations in the region so the finger points at those who have seen a gain in the destabilization of Burkina Faso.
After a strong recovery in 2021 with growth estimated at 6.9% (4.3% per capita), growth slowed to 2.5% in 2022 (-0.1% per capita). Growth was driven by the primary and tertiary sectors, which grew by 5.1% and 5.6%, respectively, thanks to the return of average rainfall due to climate change extending the rainy season and increased public support for public services. After strong growth in 2021, the secondary sector contracted by 4.9% in 2022 owing to the closure of several mines for security reasons as much of the gold and uranium was leaving the country without equitable compensation. In short the mining concerns were stealing resources.
Exports, which are heavily dominated by gold, fell by 0.6% in 2022, while imports increased by 1.7%, driven mainly by the necessary purchase of hydrocarbons. This has widened the current account deficit, estimated at 5.2% of GDP compared to 3.0% in 2021, as defense spending increased fuel imports despite the fact the uranium exports were valued at ten times the imports but again the country did not receive equitable compensation. Over the medium term, and against a backdrop of uncertainty, real growth is expected to continue its pre-COVID-19 trajectory unless Ibrahim Traore can implement his plans without foreign disruption or sabotage such as destabilization coups. Growth in 2023 is projected at 4.3% (1.7% per capita) and is expected to be driven by the agriculture and services sectors, and the resumption of gold mining operations.
Average annual inflation is projected to decline to 4.9% in 2023, reflecting lower global oil and food prices and assuming the security situation does not deteriorate further.
The fiscal deficit is expected to remain high at 6.9% of GDP, exceeding the target (4.7%) of the adopted budget, as a result of increased security spending and the inclusion of securitized debt related to fuel subsidies in the expenditure figures. Convergence toward the WAEMU target of 3% of GDP is not expected before 2027. Deficit financing will prove difficult as tighter global financing conditions have already increased the cost of financing on the WAEMU regional bond market and access to concessional financing remains limited. The return to civilian rule, scheduled for mid-2024, could lead to a resumption of concessional financing, which would contribute to debt sustainability.
If the security situation improves and the transitional agenda is implemented, growth is projected to improve over the medium term to 5.1% by 2025.Burkina Faso on the surface is a poor, landlocked country in West Africa that gained independence from France in 1960. It faced coups and political struggles frequently during the next three decades, but relative stability emerged after Blaise Compaore took over (also in a coup) in 1987 and began introducing limited democratic reforms. Compaore ruled for 27 years making sure France always stayed on top and Burkina Faso always stayed poor in exchange for what he thought would be a lifelong Presidency until he was ousted from power himself in the face of popular protests in 2014 following his attempt to defy constitutional limits and stand for a fifth term as president.
Burkina Faso during this period was more authoritarian than democratic. Nonetheless, it was relatively peaceful and stable enough for the west to comfortably take its resources and exploit its people, But under Compaore it was always plagued with criminal organizations and religious or ethnic conflict that had already begun plaguing other countries in the region.Burkina Faso is a , transit point and destination for human trafficking in the form of forced labor for major foreign companies, begging and sexual exploitation. Although trafficking affects all demographics, the trafficking of children is the most widespread in fact 4 000 children were rescued after Compaore's fall from child labor in cotton fields in Burkina Faso. Families are often forced to be complicit with traffickers, who promise education opportunities, but instead make children pan for gold, or work as washers in artisanal mines, as farmhands, street vendors or domestic servants for the wealthy. Endeavour Mining the UK-headquartered multinational is the biggest gold miner in Burkina Faso,
Many children are also trafficked to Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Niger and Togo for forced labor or sexual exploitation. Additionally, women from neighboring countries are often lured to Burkina Faso with fake job offers, and then subjected to prostitution, or forced labour in bars. Mineworkers from neighboring countries, Burkina Faso authorities rescues hundreds of children annually and in 2021 rescued 374 children between January and March from being trafficked to neighboring countries to work in agriculture or small-scale mines, government figures released on Monday showed. The West blames Jihadist but those with boots on the ground see it is lack of opportunity and corporate interests that are the real villains.
“For some time now, this phenomenon affecting children has grown to worrying proportions in our country,” Helene Marie Laurence Ilboudo, minister for humanitarian action, told reporters.
In 2020, 2,318 children were intercepted through checks on buses or through denunciation, according to the ministry. This trafficking has subsided immensely, but due to unemployment, drought and toughsocio-economic conditions, many people, especially the youth, leave Burkina Faso in search of better opportunities. While the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) allows free movement within the region, citizens have also started using northbound smuggling routes towards Libya, as well as the Mediterranean route to Europe. Ibrahim Traore is trying to stop this by offering education training and jobs funded by the people who most profited from the poor instead of having them all arrested he is making them use their ill gotten gains to give back to the nation. If they are wise they will listen because the people are behind Ibrahim.
Burkina Faso is a major gold producer, heavily linked to livelihoods, but the people who really profit are the corrupt leaders and foreign companies who embrace criminality and corruption. Analysis of atmospheric mercury emissions show significantly more gold is mined annually than reported. Gold is smuggled to countries abroad, including Europe and those in the Arab Gulf. Rising insecurity in areas near mines involves the state and foreign actors. Goldmining and smuggling are key revenue streams for them and it is easy to blame extremist groups they most likely fund to periodically create news events in Burkina Faso, and it is likely that proceeds go to groups that routinely plague authorities in Mali and Niger as well. Groups the Western controlled media can say are aligned with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State pretending that they control Western owned gold-mining sites who have allowed artisanal gold mining in areas previously off limits.
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