This is similar to the land reform measures adopted by assassinated socialist Pan-Africanist President Thomas Sankara (1949-87), who nationalised land in Burkina Faso in 1984. Under the counter-revolutionary government of Blaise Compaoré, found guilty in Sankara’s assassination, the government privatised land in 1991.

The new law is the second and most expansive land reform policy enacted under President Ibrahim Traoré. In June 2023, the government enacted a law to exclude private real estate developers from urban planning operations and limit the number of hectares a private entity could possess for urban real estate to five hectares.

In addition, real estate developers and urban landowners who plan to build on their land must submit their intentions to the government and begin construction within a specified delay time. This law aims to prevent land grabbing and speculation and to increase mass access to Burkina Faso’s land.

As Sankara told his people, ‘Improve your land and farm it in peace. The time is over when people, sitting in their parlours, can buy and re-sell land on speculation.’

With all these changes, Burkina Faso seems to be following Sankara’s path.