Commentary on Burkina Faso Military Armaments Build Up: Should ECOWAS and Especially Nigeria be Concerned?

 Should ECOWAS and Nigeria be Concerned with Burkina Faso Military Capacity Build-Up?

Commentary by Tom Okure, Ph.D. for ICMS, Inc 

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Burkina Faso is currently headed by President Captain Ibrahim Traoré a military junta that forcefully took control of the country from the government. Ibrahim Traoré who was born on March March 1988, is a Burkinabè military officer who seized power on

President Captain Ibrahim Traoré

September 30, 2022, and installed himself, as the interim leader of Burkina Faso in a coup d'état that ousted interim president Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba.

The military regime of Captain Ibrahim Traoré broke ranks with the regional economic block called the Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS). Even though peaceful and military threats by ECOWAS to compel Burkina Faso to return to the community have continued, the junta has refused to rejoin ECOWAS. Instead, Captain Ibrahim Traoré has chosen to build up his military capabilities, perhaps to defend itself against a potential ECOWAS invasion or as he claims, to fight terrorists that have been ravaging the country for many years now. The questions posited here are, should ECOWAS and Nigeria be worried about the military diversification and buildup by Burkina Faso? Is the military junta acquisition and flexing of its sophisticated build-up of Turkish drones (including Turkish-built Baykar Bayraktar TB2 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), Mi-17, Mi-24, and Mi-26 helicopters, etc); Chinese and Egyptian-built armored vehicles, etc acquired recently simply be viewed as a defensive buildup or a preparation for a war he perceives may be eminent in the future. In a recent statement by the military junta in taking delivery of a large quantity of weapons delivery, and handing the weapons over to his veteran's affairs and defense minister, the junta leader Traore emphatically stated: “Remember that we are in a world of predation and to have peace, we must wage war. So, wage war,” 

What can one extrapolate from this “we must wage war” worrisome statement!

Burkina Faso is a landlocked West African country that covers a land mass area of 274,223 km and is bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, the countries of Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. The country gained its independence in 1960 with the name of Upper Volta but later renamed itself in 1984 as Burkina Faso, which means “Land of Incorruptible People”. 

During the past year, the military administration of Burkina Faso has acquired and taken delivery of large quantities of military hardware including new drones and armored vehicles from China,

Turkish Built Drones delivered to Burkina Faso

Turkey, Egypt, etc as it claims to expand its armed forces in the face of relentless terror attacks. But is that the real reason behind the massive military buildup? The military junta leader and President Captain Ibrahim Traoré is continuously increasing his military capabilities by purchasing and taking delivery of all types of hardware including drones, military vehicles of all kinds VP11 and  CS/VP14, armored tanks, and even Caterpillar excavators which he usually hands over to his military chiefs in colorful ceremonies. It is a fact that Burkina Faso has been greatly and adversely impacted by international terrorists trying to gain a permanent foothold in the Western Africa Sahel region.  

Russian President Putin and Ibrahim Traoré. What are they really up to?

In several West African countries, more specifically in the Sahel region, political instability has increased in recent years. Since 2015, the landlocked country of Burkina Faso has been grappling with armed terrorist groups, which have caused over 10,000 casualties and the displacement of over two million of its citizens. This fact and accompanying instability caused two military coups, which resulted in the present junta's rise to power. The military junta of President Captain Ibrahim Traoré is currently aligning itself with Russia as its new partner in its fight against terrorism. Russia on the other hand is using the opportunity to expand its global military power and presence in the Sahel region of West Africa with the help of the likes of President Captain Ibrahim Traoré of Burkina Faso and other military juntas that have recently seized power within the ECOWAS regional economic community to expand its influence. But many other West African countries are also confronting the same territorial incursions into their borders by terrorists. With the pretext of poor and corrupt governance, we have witnessed a surge of military coups within the ECOWAS block over the last few years. What are the global implications of these coups and the realignments by undemocratical coup military leaders with Russia rather than remaining with their colonial partners such as France? Could the arms buildup expand beyond Burkina Faso to its neighbors? Are global powers like Russia and China that want to change the current world order responsible for the unusual build-up of military capacity by the junta of Burkina Faso. Could this be the hidden agenda behind the armaments buildup which appears to go far beyond the fight against terrorism? Can we believe Captain Ibrahim Traore when he states that the new sophisticated equipment in his possession is to be used only to combat terrorism and reinforcement of the operational capabilities of his fighting forces on the ground?

Receiving the delivery of Chinese weapons

Since the coup in 2022 and the 

ECOWAS threat to bring coup-led regimes back to its regional economic block domain by force if necessary, the junta in Burkina Faso especially among the other military juntas in ECOWAS has been intensifying its military diversification efforts and build-up of its offensive capabilities. 

Is ECOWAS and especially Nigeria, ready to take on the growing military presence of Burkina Faso military becoming a regional military power aided by Russia and China? Are we seeing the beginning of a new cold war in the West African Sahel region? Whatever the case, this writer believes that policymakers in the ECOWAS economic community must be vigilant and keep a watchful eye on Burkina Faso’s military muscle flexing? 

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All rights reserved by Tom Okure, Ph.D. CEO of Inter-Continental Mgt. Systems, Inc. (or ICMS Inc.). ICMS, Inc., is a multifaceted business and management consulting firm with its head office in Albany, New York