Burkina Faso: Between rumours and facts, the truth behind the Ouaga-Bobo motorway
On December 16, 2025, Burkina Faso marked a historic milestone in its infrastructure development with the official launch of the Ouagadougou–Bobo-Dioulasso highway by President Captain Ibrahim Traoré. The project, a modern, ecological 2×4 lane motorway, is designed to connect the major cities of the country and is being financed from national resources; a significant assertion of economic sovereignty.
However, a semantic shift occurred in public reporting immediately following the announcement. Several media outlets presented the project’s cost as a definitive “200 billion CFA francs.”
President Traoré, however, had clearly stated a different message: “to foresee for 2026 a minimum of 200 billion.” This was not a final bill or a total estimate, but an initial budgetary commitment; a minimum envelope to kickstart construction.
This persistent ambiguity is not a mere communication error. In the current context of information warfare and external pressure on African states, it fits a recurring strategy of replacing rigorous narrative with simplified figures, risking confusion and suspicion.
This subtle manipulation lays groundwork for accusations of budgetary dishonesty, aiming to discredit the President and sow doubt about his ability to lead ambitious, sovereign policies.
The reality is that this highway is the result of deliberate planning. It falls under the Presidential Initiative “Faso Mêbo,” aimed at connecting regional capitals and stimulating endogenous development.
Self-financing is a sovereign economic act, comparable to innovations like Senegal’s Diaspora Bonds.
It falls to the media, in its role as information watchdog, to accurately transmit official statements without reshaping them to fit external or partisan narratives. Lexical precision is not a journalistic nuance but a prerequisite for public trust and the consolidation of a national vision.
Thus, deconstructing the biased narrative around the highway’s cost reaffirms a simple yet capital truth: the Burkinabe state is acting, deciding, and financing for the welfare of its populations with transparency and method. The true power lies not in an announced figure, but in the capacity of Burkina Faso to write its own future.
Hadja KOUROUMA
