Burkina Faso’s military junta has cut all diplomatic ties with France, expelling the former colonial power’s ambassador and ending a decades-old defence pact. The decision, announced late on Monday, marks the most significant rupture in Paris’s influence in West Africa since Mali expelled French forces last year. For the people of Ouagadougou, the move is a gamble.
Many are tired of French interference and the failure to stem a jihadist insurgency that has killed thousands and displaced nearly two million. But severing ties with France, the country’s largest aid donor and a key security partner, carries heavy risks. The junta, which seized power in a September coup, has promised to restore stability.
Critics say it is instead consolidating power ahead of elections postponed until 2024. In London, the Foreign Office is watching closely. Britain has in recent years courted the Sahel’s military regimes, offering training and humanitarian aid without the colonial baggage attached to France.
A Whitehall source said the government was exploring deeper engagement with Burkina Faso, particularly on counter-terrorism. But analysts warn that Britain’s footprint in the region is minuscule compared with France’s. For now, the junta is turning to Russia.
Wagner mercenaries have already been spotted in the country, sparking fears of a repeat of Central African Republic, where the group profits from gold and diamonds while its fighters are accused of atrocities. The break with France will hit ordinary Burkinabe hard. French NGOs run clinics and schools, and French businesses employ thousands.
Workers like Adama Ouedraogo, a mechanic in Ouagadougou, are worried. “We need work, not politics,” he said. “The junta talks about sovereignty, but what about my pay?
My family eats bread from French flour.” The cost of living is already soaring. In the capital, bread prices have risen 20% since the coup.
This diplomatic earthquake will not ease that burden. For Britain, the chance to expand influence in the Sahel is tempting. But as one former diplomat put it: “The Sahel is the last place you want to go head-to-head with a nuclear power like France.
” The real test will be whether London’s quiet approach can achieve what Paris’s heavy hand could not: security and stability for the people of Burkina Faso.
