TRAORÉ SHINES BRIGHT IN GHANA’S BLACK STAR SQUARE

He was African Stream’s Man of the Year 2024 - and if the cheers in Ghana’s Black Star Square on Wednesday are anything to go by, Burkina Faso’s President Ibrahim Traoré will carry on inspiring Africans well into 2025.

He was visiting Accra for the inauguration of Ghana’s new president, John Dramani Mahama. But even he had to acknowledge, with a smile, that - of all the visiting dignitaries - the biggest crowd pleaser was the young revolutionary captain from the Sahel.

He’s been winning over hearts and minds not only in Ouagadougou and Accra, but across the continent and even the global diaspora - by giving Western (especially French) neo-colonialism the boot, and charting a new course towards pan-African unity.

Many compare him to fellow ‘upright man’ and first president of Burkina Faso, Thomas Sankara. What do you make of the comparison?