President Ibrahim Traore Assures BRICS 'Welcome' & Burkina's 'Doors Are Open'
11:30 31.07.2023 (Updated: 09:45 01.08.2023)
© Sputnik . Vladimir Pesnya / Go to the mediabankStand with BRICS symbols at the 3rd International Festival of Theater Schools of the BRICS Countries in Moscow, 2019.
© Sputnik . Vladimir Pesnya
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Burkina Faso "can only welcome" interaction with BRICS, Burkinabe leader Ibrahim Traore affirmed in an exclusive interview with Sputnik Africa. With a number of investors who "are really interested" in his country, the head of state hopes to "really transform Burkina Faso to give it a new face".
Burkina Faso’s doors are open to BRICS, said Captain Ibrahim Traore, President of the Transition of the country, speaking to Sputnik Africa.
"They approached us, and they are welcome," he confirmed. "Because all we want is to put an end to the war, and to develop.. All the products they have brought, it goes into our objectives. It is a question of developing our country, really transforming Burkina Faso to actually give it a new face".
According to him, "a lot of investors are really interested in Burkina Faso". However, Captain Traore stressed the need to respect the Burkinabe conditions.
'Very Good Prospects'
The Burkinabe leader said that BRICS delegates had met with several of his ministers on the sidelines of the Russia-Africa Summit, and that contacts were continuing on many fronts. In particular, "there are very good prospects" in the field of healthcare.
"So the interaction is really, really good. We have many investors who are extremely interested in Burkina Faso. It is through BRICS, and we can only rejoice over it," he continued.
Ditching the Dollar
As part of this interaction, he welcomed the development of payments in currencies alternative to the US greenback.
"Anything that is an initiative going in this direction, we support. There is no problem [here]," noted the Burkinabe leader. "It would also be very good to be able to develop this, and we hope that it will be done very quickly, in order to be able to trade very freely with Russia."
BRICS Office Coming Soon to Ouagadougou
A delegation from the BRICS Alliance led by its chief, Larissa Zelentsova, traveled to Burkina Faso in June to announce the forthcoming establishment of this group’s representative office in the African country.
The delegation said that cooperation between BRICS and Ouagadougou would focus, among others, on economic development and humanitarian and cultural issues.