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Burkina Faso’s military leaders have entered into an agreement with Russia to construct a nuclear power plant aimed at boosting the country’s electricity supply.
“The government of Burkina Faso has formalized a memorandum of understanding for the establishment of a nuclear power facility,” as stated in an official government announcement.
This accord was formalized during the Russian Energy Week held in Moscow and was attended by Burkina Faso’s Minister of Energy, Simon-Pierre Boussim.
The statement noted that this document “realizes the aspiration of Burkina Faso’s President, Captain Ibrahim Traore, expressed in July during a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at the Russia-Africa summit.”
Rosatom, Russia’s state atomic energy agency, issued its statement, designating this memorandum as “the inaugural document pertaining to the peaceful application of atomic energy between Russia and Burkina Faso.”
This nuclear power plant is expected to fulfill Burkina Faso’s energy requirements. The agreement was endorsed by Burkina Faso’s Minister of Energy and Mines, Simon-Pierre Boussim, as well as Nikolay Spasskiy, Rosatom’s Deputy Director-General.
This development, which took place on a recent Friday, follows a request made by Burkina Faso’s junta leader, Captain Ibrahim Traore, to Russian President Vladimir Putin during the Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg in July.
Captain Traore, who assumed power through a military coup in September 2022, has strengthened ties with Russia, partly due to deteriorating relations with its former colonial power, France. Concurrently, Russia has been seeking to alleviate Western isolation amid the Ukraine conflict and extend its influence in Africa.
