African President Asks Putin To ‘Help Us Educate Our Young People’

[ad_1] by Jeroslyn JoVonn Could 15, 2025

Burkina Faso’s President Capt. Ibrahim Traoré visited Russia to advocate for training for younger Africans.

Burkina Faso’s President Capt. Ibrahim Traoré is making worldwide headlines following his go to to Russia, the place he met with President Vladimir Putin to advance his anti-imperialist agenda.

The younger West African chief was in Russia Could 9 to attend the Victory Day Parade in commemoration of the eightieth anniversary of the Soviet Union’s defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, the Folks’s Dispatch stories. The go to got here amid unrest in Burkina Faso, the place a whole bunch have been killed in ongoing clashes between jihadist terrorist teams and authorities forces.

Whereas there, Traoré, 37, met with the Russian president to emphasize his dedication to combating jihadist terror teams and to hunt the nation’s help in advancing training for African youth.

The “terrorism we're witnessing as we speak comes from imperialism, and we're combating it,” Traoré informed Putin in a room of Russian leaders.

“Along with protection and safety, there's one other necessary sphere, specifically, science and training,” he continued. “We want Russia to assist us educate our younger individuals and educate them science in order that we are able to develop our personal manufacturing, trade, and engineering.”

Schooling was emphasised throughout his go to to Mendeleev College of Chemical Expertise of Russia (MUCTR), the place Traoré was met with a standing ovation from African college students.

“There are younger skills, inventors, and scientists in our nation… however typically they lack the mathematical information to good their invention,” he informed the scholars.

“But when we've branches [of Russian universities] or develop cooperation in another approach… then younger individuals may have all the pieces they should research,” he added, putting “particular emphasis on the sphere of science and training” in advancing Burkina Faso’s ties with Russia.

Since rising to energy in September 2022 following the nation’s second coup, the charismatic chief has continued to achieve recognition. His message of Pan-Africanism and independence from Western affect, significantly from former colonial ruler France, has strongly resonated with younger Africans and members of the diaspora.

Crowds of excited Africans snapped selfies with Traoré as he stepped off a Russian jet, descending the red-carpeted stairs in fight fatigues, a holstered sidearm, and his signature crimson beret.

“There's a rising consciousness amongst African youth at residence and overseas that they should do one thing concerning the continent’s lack of progress,” stated Richard Alandu, a Ghanaian residing close to the border with Burkina Faso. “It seems Traore has change into the face of that consciousness.”