Claim: Burkina Faso introduces a new currency

Source: Viral video

Verdict: FALSE

Researched by Sedem Kwasigah

A video claiming Burkina Faso has ditched the CFA Franc and introduced a new currency is being widely circulated on X (formerlly Twitter). 

The 9-minute and 14-second video (1)  captioned “Burkina Faso has just introduced new currency, ” comes with voiceover narration that details the history of how Burkina Faso along with 13 other African countries started using the CFA Franc.

“As the Captain has said, everything we have done has certainly surprised the world, especially the West, and now they are about to surprise the West especially France with another move: the creation of a new currency. Captain Traore says the plan is to break all ties that have kept the country in slavery,” the narrator partly said in English. 

In another part of the video, the narrator claimed Mali and Niger will join Burkina Faso in introducing the new currency and more than 150,200 netizens have so far viewed it.

GhanaFact also has found that similar videos with similar claims and voiceovers have been published on other social media platforms including TikTok (1,2,3) and Facebook (1,2,3).  

This report seeks to fact-check if Burkina Faso has indeed changed its currency. 

Background

Between 2020 and 2023, the West African Region saw four successful coup d’etats. From 2020 to 2021, Mali recorded two coups within 18 months, the first saw the ouster of democratically elected Ibrahim Boubakar Keita and the second resulted in the toppling of interim President Bah Ndaw and the government of Prime Minister Moctar Ouane.

On September 6, 2021, President Alpha Conde and his government were overthrown in Guinea. In Burkina Faso, a coup at the end of January 2022 saw Captain Ibrahim Traoré overthrow Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba.

Another coup occurred in Niger on July 26, 2023, led by the Head of the Presidential Guard against President Mohamed Bazoum.

After these coups, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso formed a mutual defence pact, known as the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) with the aim of “establishing an architecture of collective defence”. They have also cut military cooperation with former Western allies such as the United States and France.

Fact-Check

In an interview with a Cameroonian journalist, Alain Foka, the current military leader of Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Traore, confirmed the likelihood of a change of the country’s currency.

“[Ibrahim Traore] are you going to attack the currency, which is the CFA?” Alain Foka asked the current military leader of Burkina Faso in , an interview hosted in French but translated into English. 

Traore in response said: “Probably. Let things happen…You know, everything we do has surprised you, didn’t it? Things may still surprise you. It’s not just the currency. Everything that is linked which keeps us in slavery.”

Also, Abdourahamane Tchiani the leader of the Niger junta on February 12, 2024, hinted at the currency change during an interview published on France 24 English.

“Currency is a crucial step for us to exit colonialism. The Alliance of Sahel States is relying on its experts and when the time comes, God willing, we will make a decision”, he said during an interview featured on France 24 English. 

GhanaFact in a bid to further verify the facts on the ground, contacted Adnan Sidibé, journalist with Fasocheck, a local fact-checking organization and said: “It is fake! The government hasn’t communicated any such informations about new currency in Burkina Faso.”

In Niger, GhanaFact reached out to Ousmane Lalo Maman Sanoussi, a communications specialist who also disputed the claim that his country has introduced a new currency. “No that’s not true. I am currently on a mission and I use the CFA franc for fuel and other expenses”, he said.

“Mali hasn’t yet changed its currency. But there is a new currency project involving Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. These 3 countries forming the Alliance of Sahel States(AES),  decided on  November 2023 to create an economic union and a central bank.” Sumaila Diara, a journalist and blogger who works for Le Pretoire newspaper in Niger said in an interview with GhanaFact. 

While the leaders of Niger and Burkina Faso have hinted at the possibility of introducing a new currency, there has been no official announcement from the member states of AES and no timeline to launch a new currency.

Verdict

The claim that Burkina Faso has introduced a new currency is false.