Ibrahim Traoré: podcast appearances and interviews

Ibrahim Traoré was born on 14 March 1988 in Kéra, Burkina Faso. He is a military officer and politician who has served as the interim president of Burkina Faso since he led a coup in September 2022. Traoré is associated with the Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration, the ruling military junta in Burkina Faso. He is also the second president of the Alliance of Sahel States, a regional alliance formed by Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. Traoré graduated from the University of Ouagadougou in 2009 with a bachelor's degree in science and geology. Following graduation, he joined the Burkina Faso Armed Forces and received military training abroad, reportedly in Morocco and France. He gained experience fighting terrorism during Burkina Faso’s jihadist insurgency and was deployed to Mali with the United Nations peacekeeping mission in 2019. After overthrowing then-Interim President Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba in 2022, Traoré became the country’s second youngest head of state at the age of 34 and was recognized as the world’s youngest head of state at that time. His leadership has involved distancing Burkina Faso from France and ECOWAS, including expelling their troops, and aligning more closely with Russia, Turkey, China, Mali, and Niger. Traoré has overseen notable political changes, including a crackdown on the press and political opposition, and compulsory conscription of critics, journalists, activists, prosecutors, and judges. As of January 2026, he has survived at least five coup attempts since taking power.