A “human-induced” heat wave struck Burkina Faso and Mali in early April resulting in many deaths, with temperatures topping out above 113 degrees Fahrenheit. The heat lasted for 5 days and occurred during Ramadan, when Muslims do not eat or drink during the daytime. Further exacerbating the situation were power cuts (see below) which left many people without fans or air conditioning, and some of the worst air quality on the planet (Burkina Faso had the fifth worst air quality in 2023).
Local news reports said mortuaries in Bamako [Mali] were so full that many people had had to keep their dead relatives at home.
The health impacts may have been compounded by electricity shortages, which left many people without fans and air conditioning units. Regional media have reported that the national energy company, EDM, is struggling to pay a £410m fuel bill for its power plants. — The Guardian
In other environmental news, the AFR100 African Land Restoration Project held a workshop in Ouagadougou on March 25 through 29.
The mission of the Ouagadougou workshop is therefore to create this AFR100 technical assistance platform (PAT) for monitoring the restoration of degraded lands and forest landscapes. This platform will be connected to national land restoration registers and will include the gender aspect which is a cross-cutting subject in land management.
The project aims to restore 100 million hectares of land by 2030, including 5 million hectares in Burkina Faso. Still, results have been below expectations
However, the tree should not hide the forest. As Roch Panandtigri, focal point of AFR100 in Burkina, confides, “ the initiative is certainly well set up in terms of scenario, but in terms of concrete financial support for the realization of this initiative, the means are often lacking. Funding is below expectations and results are also below expectations .”
Meanwhile . . .
FIGHTING CONTINUES
burkina24.com/…
On Tuesday, April 2, 2024, the Burkina Faso army used powerful bombs on terrorist groups that had found refuge in recent days in the heart of the Kankanmogré forest in the center-east region, according to security sources.
. . . Indeed, a missile detached plus from the side of the air carrier at the speed of light and hits they violently. Under the trees, the criminals will burn with their gear as operations continues. (auto-translated from French)
On April 8th, the Army received new Turkish drones. These were presented by Interim President Idiamin Ibrahim Traoré to the Minister of Defense, General Kassoum Coulibaly.
“We have a multitude of machines of this type currently in the sky, which are scanning, which are searching to find and destroy any enemy thanks to the contributions of the populations,” declared General Coulibaly.
Last weekend, on the 13th, the Army and the Volunteer Defense Forces (VDP) carried out an operation in the village of Kila, about fifteen kilometers northeast of Tansila in the Banwa province, that killed fifteen terrorists and captured seven more, including Sita Sidibé, a JNIM (GSIM) leader well-known to intelligence sources.
afriktimes.info/…
Sita Sidibé coordinated several attacks against the Defense and Security Forces (FDS) and civilian populations in the Solenzo, Balavé, and Tansila communes.
This included the massacre of 18 civilians in Balavé on December 15, 2023, and attacks on the police station and municipality of the locality on April 13, 2022.
He was also involved in abductions, livestock theft, and the destruction of mobile phone relay stations.
While we can congratulate the Army for their victories versus the terrorists, we are left to wonder who the ultimate beneficiary will be, since political participation is limited and paranoia is increasing. Indeed, the gov’t recently warned: Alert, the plotters are loading their weapons of destabilisation once again!
In recent weeks, renegades of the nation, hiding inside or outside Burkina Faso through their actions, seem to want to hinder the heroic struggle of the people and the progress of the country. Often concealed under the guise of democrats and supposed defenders of freedom or human rights, they are quietly acting against the transition led by Captain Ibrahim Traoré.
Africa Liberty News
Which has led to the expulsion of three French diplomats.
Reuters cited a source with direct knowledge of the situation as saying their expulsion was due to meetings they held with civil society leaders.
So who will benefit in the end? For example, while China has authorized a loan of 30 billion CFA (about $46 million) to help build a solar power plant,
This substantial project marks a significant milestone in Burkina Faso’s quest to ensure reliable and sustainable energy supply.
The 25-megawatt peak (MWp) solar plant will feature a 5 MW/20 MWh storage system, providing an innovative solution to mitigate grid intermittencies.
some editorialists wonder who will get the contracts
I just hope that the company in charge of building the infrastructure is not Chinese. Otherwise, the loan and the interest on the loan will return to China.
To top it all off, the first people in charge of managing the project will be Chinese. Our brothers and sisters will be the little labourers of the project. To spread it too thinly, the Chinese will take a single person of Burkinabe nationality and put him in a place where he can speak on behalf of the project, without having any decision-making power over the project.
Power supply in Burkina Faso has become more of an issue after some power cuts announced by Ghana, which made the heat wave worse.
www.gbcghanaonline.com/…
This article notes that Ghana’s power is hydroelectric and Burkina Faso is, ahem, upstream, so everyone should fulfill their contractual obligations to avoid Burkina Faso building their own dams.
“For example, Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, other than solar, is totally dependent on power from Ghana 100%. If you give Burkina Faso and Sunnabel zero (power) whether peak or off-peak, it means they are in darkness.
“It has both economic and security implications as well as even strategic implications. Let’s take the strategic implications first. If I were Burkinabe or was in the leadership of Burkina Faso, one I will say supply from Ghana is unreliable, why don’t you look for alternate sources?
“And the alternate sources could be building more dams, mini dams in Burkina. Remember, the Volta takes its source outside Ghana. So if they begin to build more dams, it will affect our generation. So we must always have that in mind.”
CULTURE
Serge Aimé Coulibaly runs a dance school called Ankata in the city of Bobo-Dioulasso which offers multi-disciplinary training programs in dance, theatre, music, painting and artistic production. From the Guardian:
“Bobo-Dioulasso is a breeding ground for talented dancers who cannot professionalise,” said Coulibaly, who was also born in city. “My goal is for them to be able to create their own paths because when the training ends, no one will give them jobs.”
The Guardian article goes on to note that
Burkina Faso ranks 184th out of 191 countries in the Human Development Index, and almost half of its young people cannot read or write. It is also one of the youngest countries in the world, with an average age of 17. People under 35 make up 80% of the population and there are not enough jobs to go round. “The colonial system has formatted our minds,” Coulibaly said. “We sit and wait for someone to come and tell us what to do. In the end, we don’t know what to do to our society.”
Here is a sample of his work: