Military leaders in Burkina Faso have entered into an agreement with Russia to construct a nuclear power plant, aimed at bolstering the country’s electricity supply.
“The government of Burkina Faso has formally signed a memorandum of understanding for the establishment of a nuclear power plant,” as stated by the government. Russia’s state atomic energy agency, Rosatom, also confirmed this milestone, noting that “the memorandum represents the inaugural agreement in the realm of peaceful atomic energy cooperation between Russia and Burkina Faso.”
The nuclear power plant is poised to address Burkina Faso’s energy requirements, with the accord being signed by Simon-Pierre Boussim, the Minister of Energy and Mines, and Nikolay Spasskiy, Rosatom’s Deputy Director General.
This development, which transpired on a Friday, follows a request made by Burkina Faso’s junta leader, Captain Ibrahim Traore, to Russian President Vladimir Putin during the Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg back in July.
Captain Traore, who assumed power through a military coup in September 2022, has drawn closer to Russia as relations with its former colonial power, France, have soured. Concurrently, Russia has been working to alleviate its Western isolation concerning the Ukraine conflict and broaden its influence in Africa.
