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Since 2022, something has been broken between Burkina Faso and the African Union. When Captain Ibrahim Traoré took power in a military coup, the AU responded swiftly—and harshly. They condemned the takeover, suspended Burkina Faso from the bloc, and effectively cut off all formal communication. For nearly two years, there was no diplomacy, no dialogue—just silence and sanctions.
The African Union had turned its back. While Burkina Faso fought insurgency and rebuilt from the inside, the AU watched from a distance, seemingly uninterested in the realities on the ground. But recently, something unexpected happened. A shift. A sign of change.
The new African Union Chairman, Angolan President João Lourenço, broke that silence. For the first time in years, he sent a delegation to Ouagadougou. But this wasn’t the usual political visit. It wasn’t about pressure or punishment. This time, they came to listen.
Antonio Tete, the special envoy sent by President Lourenço, arrived not with threats, but with questions. According to him, this was a “listening mission”—a chance to understand the reality inside Burkina Faso and across the broader Sahel region. No demands were made. No conditions were given. Just a quiet mission to hear Traoré’s side of the story.
The question now is—why? What changed behind the scenes to prompt this visit? And why is the African Union finally paying attention?
That’s what we’re about to uncover.
Mr. Antonio Tete didn’t just visit. He spoke with purpose.
He made it clear that his mission was to listen to President Traoré—not to judge him. He wanted to understand the challenges facing not just Burkina Faso, but the entire Sahel region. In his own words, he came “to see what collective paths we can take as Africans to find solutions to the challenges facing each region of our continent.”
But then, he said something even more revealing.
Given the crisis in the Sahel, Mr. Tete emphasized that “it is only natural that the African Union’s principle of non-indifference should guide us to take an interest in what is happening throughout Africa.”
Let’s pause here. Because this statement changes everything.
For years, the African Union stood by as the Sahel burned. Terrorist attacks, mass displacements, the collapse of rural governance—these headlines have dominated news platforms, both African and Western. Every day, we’ve seen stories of thousands killed, of entire towns abandoned, of chaos unfolding.
And yet… the African Union said nothing. Did nothing. No delegations. No official missions. Just silence.
So why now?