Burkina: Ibrahim Traoré, four years in power in the shadow of Thomas Sankara

Captain Ibrahim Traoré has been in power in Burkina Faso for four years, matching the duration of Thomas Sankara's rule, whom he openly admires and considers his guiding hero. Unlike Sankara, who led a revolution based on austerity and social emancipation, Traoré governs amid ongoing war and increased militarization. Both men are young army captains who support Pan-Africanism, national sovereignty, and economic independence, but their contexts and methods differ.