By Ugbala Louisa
In an effort to boost energy supplies, Burkina Faso’s military authorities have struck a contract with Russia to construct a nuclear power plant.
“A nuclear power plant construction memorandum of understanding has been signed by the Burkina Faso government,” the administration announced in a statement.
Simon-Pierre Boussim, the energy minister of Burkina Faso, witnessed the signing of the deal during the Russian Energy Week in Moscow.
The paper “fulfills the wish of the president of [Burkina] Faso, Captain Ibrahim Traore, expressed [in] July at the Russia-Africa summit during a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin,” according to the announcement.
In a statement, the official Russian nuclear energy agency Rosatom claimed that “the memorandum is the first document in the field of the peaceful use of atomic energy between Russia and Burkina Faso.”
The agreement was signed by Nikolay Spasskiy, deputy director general of Rosatom, and Simon-Pierre Boussim, minister of mines and energy. The nuclear power plant will allow the nation to meet its energy needs, the statement continued.
The pact inked on Friday, follows a request made by Burkina Faso junta leader Captain Ibrahim Traore to Russian President Vladimir Putin during the Russia-Africa meeting in St Petersburg in July.
As its relationship with its former colonial power, France, deteriorates, Traore—who took power in a military coup in September 2022—has become more allied with Russia, while Russia has taken steps to overcome Western isolation over the Ukraine conflict and increase its influence in Africa.