Burkina Faso’s junta chief unveils 1st state bank, aiming for economic sovereignty

Burkina Faso junta chief Captain Ibrahim Traore launched the West African nation’s first state bank on Friday.

Known as “Burkindlim,” the bank was opened in Ouagadougou, the capital of the West African country, according to a statement by Traore on X.

“With integrity as its compass, this bank is a tool and a symbol of Burkina Faso’s economic and financial sovereignty,” said Traore.

The bank is unprecedented in a country that has been plagued by terror threats since 2015, leading to the collapse of the economic and social-political sectors.

Traore led a successful coup in September 2022 to take over the nation.

According to Traore, the bank “will be closer to the people and will contribute to our country’s socio-economic development through a more appropriate method of financing and structuring projects and programs.”

As leader of the ruling junta, he invited public and private development organizations and economic operators to “make use of this bank to participate in the collective construction of a sovereign economy at the service of our country’s development.”