Julius Okorie
Burkina Faso has led the way in what could pass for Africanisation policy, with the adoption of a locally made gown and Cap for the country’s judiciary.
This is a complete departure from the age long wig worn by legal practitioners in court. The black gown has now been replaced by an African traditional dress and the periwig has also been replaced with a unique traditional cap with so much sense of royalty. The traditional cap has been named Faso Danfani.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe Landlocked country which has ventured into several reforms since 36 year old military officer Ibrahim Traoré took over as President in September 2022, believes it is high time the country and indeed Africans and African countries begin to look inwards in search of solution to their problems.
One of the steps is a review of institutions and methods of doing things with a view to deriving the best benefits for the people. Justifying the change, the President was quoted as saying that his mission is to eliminate traces of Colonial Rule retain originality and place value on the African culture while maintaining peace and security
“I can’t be fighting an enemy in its Garments, I will never win -so I go for mine “its part of Going Back To Our Roots.
Many of the countries citizens and non-citizens alike have already taken to the social media to welcome the change.
Mudzete Manyuka Mushambi Mtongwizo on Facebook said “This man makes Africans proud; it’s a shame that other leaders are only selfish nothing more. This man had a plan before coming in and the plan is working. Burkinafaso should be used as a case study in economics, leadership and social science”
Uchechukwu Kenneth on Facebook said “Burkina Faso lawyers now wear 100% African clothing in court, no more importation and wearing of European style wig.
Both lawyers and judges in Burkina Faso now wear African fabrics to court instead of the colonial apparels they inherited from France during colonialism.
This is more like it. Africa has a rich identity and culture. The African identity is worth portraying with pride and passion. It takes a right thinking African to be this meticulous and thoughtful. There seems to be a cyclone of sanity blowing in Africa, and Traore is leading the change. Traore, on a mission!”
Traore has since assuming power has been introducing reforms and adopting economic policies aimed at improving the country’s economy by reducing importation and creating jobs.
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As part of looking inwards program of the Traore’s government, Burkina Faso’s Council of Ministers in November 2023, approved the construction of the country’s first gold refinery. This marked a significant development in Burkina Faso’s gold sector, aiming to capitalize on the nation’s growing gold mining industry.
Traoré seeks to gain more control over its gold resources by refining gold domestically rather than exporting unrefined materials. This would increase government revenue and economic benefits from the gold sector. The refinery is to create 100 new jobs and 5000 new indirect jobs, with the refinery producing roughly 400 kg of gold daily.
In February 2024, Traoré ordered the suspension of the issuance of export permits for small-scale private gold production, a move aimed at tackling illicit trade—which consists of smuggling gold abroad, avoiding taxes and regulations—and cleaning up the artisanal gold sector.
This suspension aims to crack down on such activities and ensure that exported gold is properly documented and contributes to government revenue. The government hopes this suspension will establish a more formal and accountable system for exporting small-scale produced gold.
Only recently Traore government facilitated the return of the country’s Airline, Air Burkina. The Airline had reportedly been forced off the air by financial constraints, but government recovered the airline and ensured it resumed commercial flights by October 2, 2024.
A new high-performance Embraer E190 aircraft with six business class seats and 92 economy class seats was purchased at a cost of 65 billion CFA francs about $109.7million to beef up the Airlines operation thus creating jobs and fast-tracking economic growth. The Airline currently operates scheduled international flights to Ivory Coast, Ghana, Mali, Benin, Senegal and Niger.
Julius Okorie is Chief Sports and Entertainment Correspondent for Prime Business Africa. He began his journalism career with the Champion Newspaper and Sporting Champion and later moved on to Daily Independent and the Nation Newspapers. Okorie joined Prime Business Africa in 2024 bringing on board 20 years of experience in writing investigative news on Sports and Entertainment. His well researched and highly informative articles on Sports Business and general entertainment are followed by a wide range of audience.
