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Ibrahim Traoré

Ibrahim Traoré (; born 14 March 1988) is a Burkinabé military officer and politician who has served as the interim president of Burkina Faso since 2022. Aged , he is currently the second youngest head of state in the world.

Born in Kéra, located in western Burkina Faso, Traoré graduated from the University of Ouagadougou in 2009 with a bachelor's degree in science and geology. He shortly joined the Burkina Faso Armed Forces and received military training abroad, reportedly in Morocco and France. Traoré gained experience fighting jihadist insurgents in the country. In 2019, he was deployed to Mali with the United Nations peacekeeping mission (MINUSMA).

In September 2022, Traoré led a coup against then-Interim President Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba and successfully ousted him. At the age of 34, Traoré became the country's youngest head of state, surpassing Thomas Sankara and Blaise Compaoré, and also became the world’s youngest head of state. During his tenure, Traoré has increasingly distanced Burkina Faso from France and ECOWAS, particularly by kicking out their troops and has also increasingly aligned Burkina Faso with Russia and the Wagner Group, and as well as Mali and Niger. Traoré has also played a major role in the founding of the Alliance of Sahel States, an alliance consisting of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger.

While praised for his Nationalist, Pan-Africanist, anti-Western, and anti-Imperialistic views and as well as his charismatic leadership and appeal to young people, Traoré has also been criticised for his authoritarian style of governance, his cracking down on dissent, his response to the insurgency in the country, and as well as crimes against humanity.

Traoré has also served as the second leader of the Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration (PMSR), the ruling military junta in Burkina Faso, since 2024. Provided by Wikipedia