In Burkina Faso, even DJs are being called upon to participate in Captain Traoré's "revolution."

In a lively maquis - an informal bar - in Bobo-Dioulasso, the economic capital of Burkina Faso, a DJ is playing hit after hit when the Minister of Culture bursts in.

"All the music you played was imported music," reproached Pingdwendé Gilbert Ouédraogo, the minister, to the presenter who remained silent.

"Tonight, we're not here to punish you... It's to raise awareness. Consuming Burkinabe products also means promoting our artists," he says.

The scene, relayed on April 11 on the social networks of the Ministry of Culture, is part of a communication operation, in line with the new sovereignist and nationalist orientations of the authoritarian Ibrahim Traoré, who has been leading Burkina Faso since a coup in September 2022.

This 38-year-old captain, who told the people of Burkina Faso to "forget" democracy and claims to be leading a "progressive popular revolution", now demands that local music represent "50 to 70%" of the programming in leisure venues.

Less Ivorian coupé-décalé and Nigerian afrobeat, more local tracks like those of Floby, the most popular musician in Burkina Faso whose songs are performed in mooré, a local language, or those of the rapper Smarty.

In recent years, soldiers, gendarmes and police officers have started making music and are having great success with military training songs.

Ibrahim Traoré also created an orchestra more than a year ago to provide entertainment for official ceremonies, a first in the country.

"A chance for us"

Captain Traoré says he is inspired by Thomas Sankara, former leader of Burkina Faso and figure of pan-Africanism, assassinated in 1987 during a coup.

The latter had initiated a "democratic and popular revolution" intended to break with the colonial legacy, fight imperialism and undertake a profound political, social and economic transformation based on self-sufficiency, the fight against corruption and national sovereignty.

Ibrahim Traoré "successfully channeled a broad pan-Africanist and anti-French sentiment, presenting himself as the one who would complete the unfinished revolution" of Thomas Sankara, explains Folahanmi Aina, an analyst of conflicts in the Sahel, in a study published in mid-April.

"This is a chance for us, for Burkinabe music. The breakthrough will come," a local musician said on condition of anonymity.

Under the impetus of this sovereignist and nationalist policy, Burkina Faso is undergoing a transformation.

For example, the authorities have nationalized several gold mines. Faso Danfani, a traditional handwoven fabric popularized under Thomas Sankara, is making a comeback in government offices and schools.

And "with calls to consume, produce, process and eat Burkinabe, sovereignty descends into the plate, into habits, into objects, into the domestic economy," explains Julien Hoffmann, Sahel analyst, in an article.

However, local products are often more expensive, especially for a population whose purchasing power has been weakened by more than three years of political crisis and more than a decade of jihadist violence.

"Whether it's rice, Faso Danfani or other local products, what is made here and should be accessible to all becomes a luxury item," laments a resident of Bobo-Dioulasso.

"Order and discipline"

Popular mobilization around the homeland and the nation is the central theme of Captain Traoré's "revolution," which was primarily a military one.

He recruited thousands of civilian volunteers to support the army, who are accused by the NGO Human Rights Watch of having, with the latter, killed at least 1,255 civilians in 2023, twice as many as a major jihadist group - figures rejected by Burkina Faso.

The authorities have also introduced a mandatory one-month "patriotic immersion" for high school graduates, presented as a way to train committed citizens ready to defend their country against jihadists.

Since January, agents from ministries and other public services have also been sent in waves of several hundred for "patriotic immersion".

In 2023, the junta created a "patriotic support fund" intended to equip the army, popular contributions which mobilized 496 billion CFA francs over three years (more than 756 million euros).

The junta is also suppressing dissenting voices, which are being sent to the front lines to fight jihadists. Several international media outlets have been banned from broadcasting, such as the French television channel TV5 Monde since Tuesday, and the government is shrinking civic space.

Several journalists have been arrested or abducted, then taken to the front or imprisoned, sometimes outside of known detention centers.

According to researcher Folahanmi Aina, Captain Traoré "is neither simply a savior nor simply a dictator, but an ambivalent figure whose authority is rooted in an anti-imperialist promise and consolidated by an authoritarian practice."

AFP