Burkina Faso coup leaders consider next steps

Protesters gathered in Burkina Faso’s capital on Tuesday as envoys from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) met with the country’s latest coup leaders. Last week, a group of soldiers led by Capt. Ibrahim Traore overthrew the interim leader of Burkina Faso and declared themselves in charge. The coup was Burkina Faso’s second this year. ECOWAS hopes to press Traore into restoring democracy in the country.

Will ECOWAS succeed in advocating for democracy? ECOWAS has also been pushing for a return to democracy in neighboring Mali for more than two years. It laid stiff sanctions against the country but then lifted them despite not seeing results. Traore did not seem fazed by the prospect of ECOWAS sanctions, according to Michael Shurkin, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and a director at 14 North Strategies. Traore has said that he plans to have elections by 2024, according to an interview he gave to Radio France Internationale.

Dig deeper: Read Onize Ohikere’s report in World Tour about Russian influence in this region of Africa.