Burkina Faso: Paris suspends “all its development aid and budget support actions”

FINANCIAL PRESSURE Burkina Faso and Mali stand in solidarity with the military who took power in Niger, while France supports President Bazoum

Dmitry Azarov/Kommersant

While tensions are very high in West Africa, notably with the coup d’etat in Niger on July 26, Paris is putting pressure on Ouagadougou. France has thus decided to suspend “until’ new order all its development aid and budget support actions” in Burkina Faso, announced Sunday evening the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

This announcement is made while Burkina Faso and Mali are in solidarity with the soldiers who took power in Niger. France supports the ECOWAS countries, the Community economy of West African states, in their efforts to restore President Mohamed Bazoum. ECOWAS threatened to intervene militarily. His ultimatum for the return to the constitutional order came to an end on Sunday at midnight.

Degraded relations since the 2022 putsch

Ongoing French development aid projects in favor of Burkina Faso represent 482 million euros, while budgetary aid programmed in 2022 is higher. to 13 million, said the Quai d’Orsay.

Relations between France and Burkina have deteriorated since Captain Ibrahim Traore came to power in a coup in September 2022. On January 18, the authorities of Ouagadougou had requested the departure, within a month, of the French Saber force in Burkina Faso.

France had acted; this departure but had not suspended either its development aid or its budgetary aid as it had done for Mali. On the other hand, on July 29, three days after the putsch in Niger, Paris suspended all its development aid actions and budgetary support to Niger. Niamey.