ELECTRICAL VEHICLES ASSEMBLED IN BURKINA FASO

In January 2025, a Burkinabé citizen, Abdoul Kader Bougouma, opened Burkina Faso's first electric-vehicle company, Itaoua. It designs and assembles vehicles using Chinese parts, making it the country's first car manufacturer of its kind. The company has stated that it designs cars with the Burkinabé landscape and climate in mind. Bougouma expressed that he was inspired to move back to Burkina Faso to start this company because of the political and economic transformation occurring under Ibrahim Traoré's presidency (@capitaineib226 on X). Since ousting a Western-aligned leader in a people-backed coup d'état, the new government has emphasised building sovereignty and economic self-determination.

This @mrghanababy (IG) video clip from an almost hour-long documentary showcases Itaoua's impact.

Continued…….. Until now, the country has depended almost exclusively on imported vehicles, most of which are used and not well-suited for the often rugged and unpaved interior roads. By establishing a company that assembles vehicles locally, Bougouma aims to reduce the country's dependency on imports and foster national pride.

The launch of Itaoua comes as Burkina Faso restructures its relationship with Western neo-colonial powers and looks inward for growth. Traoré, who came to power in 2022, has consistently emphasised the need for greater local production, often in state-owned factories, refineries and plants.

India-based Mordor Intelligence estimates electric-vehicle sales in Africa will jump to $28.3 billion, a more than 10 per cent spike from 2025.

While Itaoua is private, it aligns with the state's objective of developing local transportation infrastructure. Burkina Faso, along with Mali and Niger, have discussed building a tri-state transportation infrastructure, including a railway system. 

Burkina Faso has also launched the state-owned Faso Mêbo programme, which trains and hires young people in road construction, infrastructure development, and city beautification. It also trains youths in defence, civic duties and patriotism.

Video credit: @mrghanababy (IG)

Sources

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CH9QfwrCH_M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFu0R5S0Ds8

https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/africa-electric-vehicle-market

GODFREY FINDS TRUMP'S REFUGEE PLAN INSANE

US President Donald Trump's recent decision to allow South Africa’s white settlers to re-settle in the US as 'refugees' has drawn ridicule from many quarters, including US-based Nigerian comedian Godfrey C Danchimah Jr (@comediangodfrey on IG), who is outraged at white settlers claiming African identity. 

The comedian said the settlers are hypocritical for claiming victimhood as descendants of European colonialists, who exploited the continent, imposed apartheid in South Africa, and created the all-white town, Orania. Any claim of ‘reverse r*cism’ is unfounded as r*cism uses the falsehood of European racial superiority to oppress Africans through laws. Further, a South African court recently dismissed the claim of white g*nocide as 'not real' and 'clearly imagined.'

Continued……The exodus comes after Trump’s opposition to South Africa enacting the Land Appropriation Act in January, seeking to seize land without compensation under specific circumstances to address decades of inequity due to the legacy of apartheid laws. South Africa’s white minority still benefits from a legacy of oppressing natives, owning more than 70 per cent of the country’s private farmland despite making up only 7.3 per cent of the population.

Have a watch, and let us know what you think.

Video credit: @godfreycomic (IG)

Sources
https://www.npr.org/2025/05/12/g-s1-65984/south-african-afrikaner-refugee-us

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-29475977

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg9w4n6gp5o

https://travelpander.com/a-comprehensive-guide-to-white-privilege-in-south-africa/

Football-mad Britain is already angling to profit from the 2030 FIFA World Cup tournament in a deal that involves supporting Morocco's occupation of Western Sahara.

The North African nation will co-host football's largest spectacle alongside Portugal and Spain. Highlighting the intersection of imperialism and capitalism, London has ditched its decades of neutrality over the Western Sahara dispute to secure British involvement in major infrastructure projects for the 2030 World Cup.

During a visit to Rabat on 1 June 2025, Foreign Secretary David Lammy boasted that deals with Morocco will enable "British businesses to score big on football's biggest stage," with opportunities in sectors like health, water, and port infrastructure, plus an estimated £33 billion in public procurement opportunities over the next three years.

London, for its part, officially recognises Morocco's autonomy proposal as the "most credible, viable and pragmatic basis for a lasting resolution of the dispute."

Continued……. Morocco has controlled much of Western Sahara since Spain withdrew from the territory in 1975, while the Polisario Front, representing the Sahrawi people's self-determination struggle, seeks complete independence. The UN has a peacekeeping mission in the region and has long called for a referendum on self-determination, which has never taken place due to Morocco's opposition.

Western Sahara is a full member state of the African Union, having joined the continental body on 22 February 1982 as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). Many countries and organisations recognise the Sahrawi people's right to their own state, including the United Nations General Assembly, which annually adopts a resolution affirming their inalienable right to self-determination and independence.

However Morocco, backed by imperial powers, claims the territory as its own. Algeria, which supports SADR's independence, has slammed the UK's move, stating that Rabat's autonomy plan is "empty of content and incapable of contributing to a serious and credible settlement of the conflict."

Image Credit: @DavidLammy (X)

Sources

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yxkzdq11zo

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/us-reaffirms-recognition-of-morocco-s-sovereignty-over-western-sahara/3532176

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5So6aGFv0cI

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1vdl92zlzqo

https://au.int/en/pressreleases/20220504/saharawi-arab-democratic-republic-becomes-43rd-african-union-member-state

https://foreignpolicy.com/2014/02/25/the-20-million-case-for-morocco/

https://www.hrw.org/news/2008/12/19/morocco-suppressing-rights-western-sahara

https://www.accord.org.za/conflict-trends/the-western-sahara-conflict-on-an-evolving-african-security-landscape/

https://www.un.org/dppa/decolonization/en/nsgt/western-sahara

https://treaties.un.org/doc/publication/unts/volume%20988/volume-988-i-14450-english.pdf

https://www.britannica.com/place/Sahrawi-Arab-Democratic-Republic

https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/proclamation-recognizing-sovereignty-kingdom-morocco-western-sahara/

https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/western-sahara-sahrawi-refugees

https://docs.un.org/en/A/RES/78/85

STARLINK: WHY ELON MUSK IS BEEFING WITH SOUTH AFRICA

Tech billionaire Elon Musk has repeatedly peddled disinformation about South Africa's alleged anti-white discrimination and the unfounded claim of a 'white g*nocide,' influencing US President Donald Trump's decision to cut aid to South Africa and re-settling the African country's white settlers in the US. 

To make sense of the vitriol, South African comedian Trevor Noah (@Trevornoah on X) argued in this clip from his podcast that one should follow the money. 

Musk's satellite internet company, Starlink, has faced challenges in South Africa due to the country's Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) policy, which requires that historically marginalised groups hold at least 30 per cent of a company's shares in certain sectors as part of efforts to provide redress to the lingering effects of apartheid-era social and economic exclusion.

Continued……. More than 30 years after apartheid's end, white people make up only 7.3 per cent of the population but own 72 per cent of private farmland in what the World Bank has called the most unequal country. The apartheid regime systematically excluded the Black majority in South Africa from national development through initiatives like land dispossession and job reservations that locked Black people into cheap labour. 

Do you agree with Noah's take on why Musk carries a vendetta against South Africa? 

Video credit: @whatnowpodcast on IG

Sources
https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/markets/south-africas-push-to-amend-bee-laws-for-musks-starlink-triggers-public-backlash/p0jnxxp

https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/markets/starlink-is-not-allowed-to-operate-in-south-africa-because-im-not-black-elon-musk/wrz3chh

https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/south-africa-not-giving-special-dispensation-musks-starlink-minister-says-2025-05-27/

https://www.ft.com/content/a6e0366e-ffda-49ba-a9c1-0e1ee04d8bb3

https://medium.com/@MthiyaneShandu/occupational-segregation-the-enduring-legacy-of-job-reservation-in-south-africa-9948b31a599e

Guinea-Bissau’s freedom fighter and revolutionary leader, Carmen Maria de Araújo Pereira, died almost a decade ago on 4 June 2016. 

Born in 1936, Pereira joined the African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde (PAIGC) in 1962 after meeting Amílcar Cabral (1924-73), the party's co-founder. However, she became curious after discovering her husband had hidden his membership from her by holding meetings only after ensuring she had left the house. From then onwards, this tireless warrior would take on the dual struggle of demanding women’s equality and decolonisation.

Continued……While a guerrilla war raged in her home country in 1963, she relocated to the former Soviet Union to study nursing and receive political training.

However, after Guinea-Bissau won independence in 1974, Pereira pursued many leadership roles. She became the first woman elected as president of the National Assembly. Pereira was also appointed health minister, minister for social affairs and state council member. In 1984, Pereira served as the first woman acting president for three days.

As we remember her inspiring life today, let us not forget that women, too, play an essential role in nation-building. Thus, in our struggle for true independence from foreign powers that marginalise and exploit the continent, let us remember that this fight goes hand in hand with the battle for the liberation of African women, too.

Sources

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/523719.pdf?refreqid=fastly-default%3Ae7136924daaf7b9fe8a53cf027f46f64&ab_segments=&initiator=&acceptTC=1

https://oxfordre.com/africanhistory/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.001.0001/acrefore-9780190277734-e-484?p=emailAQJnnoneFzHvA&d=/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.001.0001/acrefore-9780190277734-e-484

https://www.ufrgs.br/africanas/carmen-pereira-1937-2016

https://www.marxists.org/subject/africa/paigc/paigc-interview.pdf

https://oxfordre.com/africanhistory/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.001.0001/acrefore-9780190277734-e-484?d=%2F10.1093%2Facrefore%2F9780190277734.001.0001%2Facrefore-9780190277734-e-484&p=emailA6tOjRC1CEYkU

https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/90222/9781350383067.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

FROM TREE TO TABLE: CASHEWS ARE A KERNEL OF HOPE FOR BURKINA FASO

Burkina Faso President Ibrahim Traoré (@capitaineib226 on X) recently laid the first stone to open a cashew-apple processing factory in the southwestern department of Péni as part of the government’s plan to expand local cashew production.

He suggested establishing more such factories in the southern municipalities of Orodara, Banfora and Gaoua. He then visited the newly resurrected SN ANATRANS cashew-nut factory. The largely women-operated factory had gone under after struggling financially for many years, but the government re-opened it on 23 May 2025.

Continued……. These developments follow the government's suspension of raw, unrefined cashew exports in April, allowing it to begin refining cashew food products locally.

Video credits: @BF1 (X), @Faso7_BF (X)

Sources

https://burkina24.com/2025/05/23/bobo-dioulasso-le-capitaine-ibrahim-traore-visite-lusine-de-la-societe-nouvelle-anatrans-sa

https://www.aa.com.tr/fr/afrique/burkina-faso-suspension-de-lexportation-de-la-noix-brute-de-cajou/3526658

https://francais.rt.com/news/121113-burkina-faso-president-pose-premiere-usine-cajou

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vj-ilBGSBwY&t=16s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyPLz9ZGa1M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUhrcwBZwas

Continued……. For some perspective, Nigeria is ranked 110th out of 127 on the Global Hunger Index, with 18 percent of its population deemed undernourished. Yet, Gates has reportedly invested $2 billion in Nigeria for health, agriculture, and digital innovation. A UN report highlights that Nigeria is the most dangerous place for a woman to give birth, contributing to 29 percent of global maternal deaths, a direct result of Abuja’s persistent healthcare underfunding. Moreover, insecurity issues are partly fueled by foreign interference, as US Congressman Scott Perry revealed that the USAID funnelled funds to the terrorist group Boko Haram.

The many challenges Nigeria faces are rooted in a history of colonisation and the subservience of post-independence ruling classes to imperialist agendas. For instance, in 2023, as the chairman of the regional bloc ECOWAS, Tinubu sided with France against Niger, imposing sanctions and threatening invasion to suppress the people-led anti-imperialist movement that had ousted the French. Instead of prioritising his citizens, he aligns with imperialists while cracking down on those who protest against a severe cost-of-living crisis.

While Gates has added another accolade to his collection, millions of Nigerians are left wondering where their next meal will come from.

Sources

https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/leaders/nigeria-honors-billionaire-bill-gates-with-major-national-award/0gk67hw

https://pmnewsnigeria.com/2025/06/04/tinubus-surprise-move-why-bill-gates-just-got-nigerias-cfr-award/

https://statehouse.gov.ng/news/president-tinubu-confers-national-honour-on-bill-gates-an-inspiration-to-leaders/

https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/2022/07/how-bill-gates-makes-the-world-worse-off

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/287426876_Philanthrocapitalism_Past_and_Present_The_Rockefeller_Foundation_the_Gates_Foundation_and_the_Settings_of_the_InternationalGlobal_Health_Agenda

https://www.gatesnotes.com/the-power-of-catalytic-philanthropy

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bill-gates-should-stop-telling-africans-what-kind-of-agriculture-africans-need1/

https://www.gatesfoundation.org/ideas/media-center/press-releases/2008/01/$306-million-commitment-to-agricultural-development

https://grain.org/en/article/6690-how-the-gates-foundation-is-driving-the-food-system-in-the-wrong-direction

https://digitalcommons.law.ggu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1205&context=annlsurvey

https://www.globalhungerindex.org/nigeria.html

ANGELA DAVIS DEFENDS PALESTINE

On 4 June 1972, an all-white jury acquitted Black activist and scholar Angela Davis (@_angeladavis1944 on IG) of allegedly supplying weapons used in a fatal courtroom takeover in California. The trial lasted 13 weeks to consider charges including murder, kidnapping and conspiracy. However, the prosecution had failed to prove she had participated in planning or executing the act. 

Today, on the 53rd anniversary of her acquittal, check out 81-year-old Davis’ perspective on one of the most pressing crises of our time. This elder has long stood up in the United States for the liberation of Palestine, understanding the connection between the Palestinian liberation struggle and the liberation of Black people in the United States and humanity as a whole. Davis became especially vocal in 2011, when she participated in a delegation and witnessed the horrors of Israeli occupation and settler colonialism.

Continued……. In this 27 October 2023 clip, Davis spoke with pro-Palestine activist and academic Marc Lamont Hill (@marclamonthill on IG), who hosts Al Jazeera’s ‘UpFront.’ She quoted Black poet, essayist and activist June Jordan (1936-2002), who stood up for Palestine during the 1960s and 1970s, when so few in the United States did so. ‘Palestine,’ Davis said, ‘is a moral litmus test.’ Furthermore, she highlighted stark parallels between apartheid South Africa and Occupied Palestine. Israel had provided the apartheid state with various forms of support. In turn, the Zi*nist state learned from apartheid South Africa to perfect its violent methods. No wonder Davis also pointed out South African freedom fighter Nelson Mandela’s (1918-2013) vocal opposition to the Israeli oppression of Palestine.

Let us know if you agree with Davis. 

Video credit: @ajeupfront on IG / @aljazeeraenglish on IG

Sources

https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/03/08/home/davis-acquit.html

SUDAN: REMEMBERING THE 2019 KHARTOUM MASSACRE

This week marks six years since peaceful Sudanese demonstrators were brutally k*lled while staging a sit-in protest on 3 June 2019 at the army headquarters, chanting slogans such as ‘Freedom, Peace and Justice’. The now-infamous Khartoum Massacre was carried out by the United Arab Emirates-backed Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group, while the Sudanese army, which was aligned with the militia at the time, stood by and did nothing to protect the civilians.

After the movement ousted dictator Omar al-Bashir in April 2019, the predominantly young protesters refused to return home, demanding a civilian-led transitional government and the complete dismantling of the authoritarian regime’s security apparatus.

Continued….. They turned the perimeter of the army headquarters into a lively space of resistance, civic education, art, and a united front embodying the hopes of all Sudanese for a democratic country.

Tragically, the RSF r*ped and k*lled many civilians, throwing bodies into the Nile River that later resurfaced. The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), under the Transitional Military Council (TMC), invited the RSF into the capital city to reinforce and coordinate the violent and premeditated crackdown aimed at forcibly dispersing the sit-in and crushing the pro-democracy movement.

African Stream Editor-in-Chief Ahmed Kaballo’s 2019 documentary sheds light on the massacre, during which extreme violence is estimated to have lasted between 3 and 18 June. Witness testimonies he gathered at the time placed the death toll at 127, with more than 70 cases of r*pe and at least 40 bodies thrown into the Nile. However, other sources suggest these numbers may have been underestimated, primarily due to the Transitional Military Council forces suppressing evidence.

In this clip, we hear from witnesses and see only snippets of the violence that ensued when a generation determined to reclaim their country’s trajectory faced forces using violence to maintain a system that does not reflect the people’s aspirations.

Watch the full documentary on Kaballo’s YouTube channel (@ahmedkaballo4170).

Sources

https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2024/6/3/what-was-the-khartoum-massacre-marked-by-sudans-activists

https://www.hrw.org/report/2019/11/18/they-were-shouting-kill-them/sudans-violent-crackdown-protesters-khartoum

https://phr.org/our-work/resources/chaos-and-fire-an-analysis-of-sudans-june-3-2019-khartoum-massacre/

https://humanrights.berkeley.edu/projects/verifying-sudans-khartoum-massacre/

https://www.hrw.org/report/2019/11/18/they-were-shouting-kill-them/sudans-violent-crackdown-protesters-khartoum

https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/06/02/sudan-justice-june-3-crackdown-delayed


https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2020/3/6/sudans-june-crackdown-may-have-killed-241-people-rights-group