The pre-colonial period The history of present-day Burkina Faso before colonization was characterized by a succession of kingdoms: Gourma, inhabited by the Gurmanceba and Bemba; Moogho, country of the Moose; Gwiriko, country of the Bobo-Dioulas; the Liptako, occupied by the Peuls, the Haoussa and the Bella. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, these kingdoms opposed the great empires of the Niger loop (Mali and Songhay) whose margins they did not hesitate to attack and raid. The power of their armies enabled the Mossi kingdoms to preserve most of their independence. But, at the end of the 15th century, the Songhay Empire established its supremacy over the Niger loop, putting an end to the Mossi. With their well-structured social and religious organization and exceptional political stability, the Mossi kingdom continued until the French conquest at the end of the 19th century.
Beginning of colonization After the Berlin Conference (1884-1885), the conquest of present-day Burkina Faso was a real race between the Europeans from Germany, through the English to the French, the establishment of protectorate for the French should take place very quickly in order to ensure the conquest of the colonies of West, Central and North Africa in order to establish what should be called United French Africa. Several of them explored the territory, notably Henry Barth, one of the first to take an interest in West Africa; the German KRAUSS (1886), followed by the French Binger in 1888; Crozat crossed the countries of Upper Volta in 1890; Monteil in 1891, the Englishman Ferguson in 1894.
In a context of establishment of the European imperialist ideology, the East of the territory was conquered through a treaty signed by the French in January 1895. On the orders of the governor of
Sudan (present-day Mali), a French representation commanded by Captain Destenave went to Ouagadougou Destenave went to Ouahigouya in May 1895 and signed a protectorate treaty with Yatenga. In September 1897, the western part of the territory was conquered by treaty with theby treaty with the Guiriko at Bobo Dioulasso. On October 4, 1895 Destenaves obtained the signature of another treaty in Dori. In 1896, the French army took Ouagadougou.
The entire country was occupied in 1897. It was first integrated into Haut-Sénégal-Niger, before being established as an independent colony under the name of Upper Volta in 1919. The colony served
essentially as a labor pool for the large Ivorian plantations and was subjected to military recruitment during the two world wars. These series of territorial seizures were not without resistance both peaceful and very active, these resistance movements did not prevent the imperialist appetite from being realized the resistance of Boukary Kutu (Naba Wobgo) against the entry of the French on the territory of Burkina Faso, betrayed by the English with whom he allied himself to push back the French, this resistance ended in failure. The Markha people or people of the Boucle du Mouhoun are also engaged in a resistance also engaged in a very well organized resistance and protest against the French presence and violent presence. In its particularly violent form, the resistance started with an insurrection that broke out in Bouna, in the Marka country, when the population objected to providing “tirailleurs” to support France in the First World War, calling on the surrounding villages to take up arms.
On September 5, 1932, the colony of Upper Volta was abolished by a decree for economic and financial reasons. It was shared between the colonies of Côte d’Ivoire, Niger and Sudan. In 1945, Mogho Naba Saga II created the Union for the Defense of the Interests of Upper Volta (UDIHV) and undertook a campaign for the reconstitution of the colony of Upper Volta.
The independence of Upper Volta
The process of accession of Upper Volta was done gradually.
administered by the Ivory Coast, Mali and Niger. It was not until 1947, after the Second World War, that the territory was returned to its initial limits by the law of September 4, 1947, notably in its article 2 which stipulates: “The territory of Upper Volta, re-established, has administrative and financial autonomy under the same conditions as the other territories” of the French West Africa group. This law made it possible to re-form the colony of Upper Volta.
In 1956, the framework law introduced universal suffrage in the French colonies of Black Africa and granted Upper Volta, like the other colonies, greater administrative autonomy.
In 1958, the new French constitution, which granted full autonomy, was approved by 99.1 percent of voters in Upper Volta: the draft was supported by the Rassemblement démocratique africain (RDA), but a new party, the African National Liberation Movement, led by the historian Joseph Ki-Zerbo, made a bid for independence. Joseph Ki-Zerbo, campaigned unsuccessfully for immediate independence. In fact, Upper Volta gained independence on August 5, 1960, with Maurice Yaméogo as its first president.
With a political environment cut off by a series of coups (in 1966, 1980, 1982,1983, 1987, 2015), Burkina Faso was later known as President Thomas Sankara; Blaise Compaoré; Roch Marc Christian Kaboré.
Geopolitics and Interdependance
Burkina Faso, the “Land of Honest Men”, is a landlocked country in West Africa, surrounded by Mali to the north and west, Niger to the east, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south and Côte d’Ivoire to the southwest. The capital Ouagadougou is located in the center of the country.
Burkina Faso is a member of the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Its economy is essentially based on agriculture, which employs nearly 80% of the working population, although gold exports have become increasingly important in recent years. In fact, to the resources available to the country (raw cotton, coconuts, zinc, raw zinc, cashew nuts), gold has been a real economic mine for the country in recent years. According to 2018 statistics, the country passes 4th producer of gold in Africa behind South Africa, Ghana and Mali. Between 2017 and 2018 gold production increased by 15% (from 35 t in 2015, it rose to 38.5 t in 2016, 45.6 tons in 2017 and 52.66 t in 2018. This gold wealth justifies the presence of foreign mining companies, particularly Canadian.
Despite the progress made, Burkina Faso faces many development challenges. Growing insecurity, especially in the north near the border with Mali and Niger, caused the displacement of many Burkinabè.
However, despite this security environment, the country is trying to shine through its cinema. Burkina Faso’s contribution to African cinema began with the creation of the started with the creation of FESPACO (Pan-African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou), which was launched in 1969 as a film week. In 1972, the initiative received state support and established itself as a permanent structure. With more than half a million visitors, it is the largest film exhibition venue in sub-Saharan Africa.
Current Development Policy
Burkina has resolved to raise its economy and meet the expectations of its people through the realization of several projects. Despite its geographical position, the country has opted for a development policy with the vision of “building with the people, a Burkina Faso of democracy, economic and social progress, freedom and justice” through a structural transformation of the national economy to put it on a new trajectory of strong growth, deeply by profoundly reducing social inequalities and rural and urban poverty”.
Its National Economic and Social Development Plan (PNDES 2016-2020), developed for this purpose is based on the 2025 vision of making Burkina Faso “a nation of solidarity, progress and justice, which consolidates its respect on the international scene” and which calls on “the Burkinabè to transform the determinants of the evolution of the Burkina system, to make the national economy competitive,
consolidate growth and prosperity, and improve their quality of life.”
It is important to specify that the development policy in place fully integrates the SDGs by 2030 as well as the African Union’s Agenda 2063.
To this end, the government of Burkina Faso, through the 2020/2021 agricultural season in Burkina Faso’s aims to produce 5.670 million tons (Mt) of cereals, 1.585 Mt of cash crops and 941,000 tons of other food crops. To help achieve these objectives, the government will make available to producers “at highly subsidized prices” nearly 40,000 tons of fertilizer, just over 14,000 tons of improved seeds, 24,000 liters of pesticides, as well as 400 tractors, 132 power tillers, 4,000 plows, 200 seeders and 1,020 draught animals, according to the Ministry of Agriculture press release. These inputs and agricultural materials will be distributed to farmers via agri-Voucher.
SDG11: Build sustainable cities and communities.
SDG 11 aims to make cities sustainable means creating career and business opportunities, safe and affordable housing, and building resilient societies and economies.
This includes investments in public transport, the creation of green public spaces and improved urban planning and management in a participatory and inclusive manner
The growth of cities in Africa represents an unprecedented development challenge. Indeed, it is estimated that each year nearly 24 million additional inhabitants will populate African cities by 2045. For the time being, the poverty rate in cities is close to 70% and inequalities tend to increase, so it is essential to review the African urbanization model.
The capital of Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou, has experienced significant demographic and migratory pressure since the 1960s. Currently, its real estate market is saturated and its inhabitants can hardly enjoy a quality and adequate environment. To this end, the government launched in 2018 the construction of a new city, a sustainable city, named Yennenga, 15 km from Ouagadougou. Yennenga, named after a princess from the kingdom of Dagomba, daughter of Naba Nedega and Queen Napoko, founder of the Moogo kingdom in present-day Burkina Faso, is a rather ambitious project. It is about building a green and economic city in a Sahelian country, capable of containing nearly 100,000 inhabitants. The future city of Yennenga will operate with clean energy. It will be equipped with a solar power plant with a capacity of 270 MW that will meet the needs of the city’s population.
The water consumed here will come from a recovery and reuse system. Natural spaces and public gardens will be developed in several corners of the cities. It therefore proposes different types of housing adapted to all means: social housing, economic housing, as well as economic housing, as well as high-end apartments. It will also host an office tower, a 28-hectare amusement park and a hotel complex with the ambition of developing a regional attraction pole around the capital.
In addition, a joint initiative between the cities of Chatelleraut and Kaya in Burkina Faso has made it possible to set up a project to strengthen community waste management in four cities in Burkina Faso, which aims to contribute to the improvement of living conditions for populations experiencing accelerated urbanization, through better solid waste management.