Burkina Faso’s Ibrahim Traore: How Influencers Use Deepfakes, Celebrities and Misinformation to Glorify Junta Leader

Burkina Faso’s Traoré Emerges as Digital Pan-African Icon Amid Wave of AI-Generated Content

A surge of AI-generated content portraying Burkina Faso’s military leader Ibrahim Traoré as a pan-African hero has flooded social media platforms across Sub-Saharan Africa since late April, capturing the imagination of users in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and beyond.

In one viral deepfake video, which has drawn millions of views, American superstar Beyoncé appears dressed in combat gear riding an armored vehicle alongside Captain Traoré. “God protect Ibrahim Traoré in the battle for the people’s way, break chains from the empire hold,” proclaim the fabricated lyrics.

This video is just one example among hundreds of AI-generated depictions presenting the 37-year-old junta leader as an inspirational figure for the continent, many containing false or misleading information. The digital campaign has gained significant traction on platforms including X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp and YouTube.

Data analysis shows Nigeria and Kenya rank among the top ten countries posting about Traoré, with mentions of the military leader spiking dramatically in May 2025. Social media influencers describing themselves as “pan-Africanists” have fueled this trend, building on existing public disappointment with their own governments.

Traoré took power in Burkina Faso in 2022, positioning himself as a champion of anti-imperialism who stands against Western interference, particularly from France, while strengthening ties with Russia as a strategic ally. His frequent public appearances and carefully cultivated image as a “simple” leader have resonated both domestically and internationally, drawing supportive crowds to the streets of Ouagadougou.

Some supporters even describe him as a “reincarnation” of Thomas Sankara, the iconic former Burkinabe leader assassinated in 1987 following a coup. His skilled oratory and media-savvy approach have helped solidify his appeal among young Africans disillusioned with the status quo.

However, under Traoré’s leadership, Burkina Faso has experienced significant democratic decline. Human rights organizations have documented the detention of journalists and critics, forced conscription into the military, and serious human rights abuses. A recent Human Rights Watch report accused government forces of killing at least 100 civilians in a single attack in March.

“While concrete support for Traoré across Africa exists, the increase in AI-generated content used to drive these narratives suggests it’s not organic,” explains Eliud Akwei, a senior investigative analyst for Code for Africa, a nonprofit investigating disinformation on the continent.

Some AI-narrated videos masquerade as professional news reports while spreading unsubstantiated claims. One video alleging that one of Traoré’s guards was “offered $5 million to kill him” garnered over one million views despite no evidence supporting this claim.

Another particularly successful video with 4.5 million views tells a fictional story of Traoré being asked to surrender his business class seat to a French businessman on a flight. Though labeled as “fiction,” numerous YouTube channels have presented this story as a real incident.

“Some of the social media posts are wishful thinking. Some contain true facts, but rendered with significant exaggeration,” notes Dr. Lassane Ouedraogo, an Assistant Professor of Communications from Ohio University and native of Burkina Faso.

The Nigerian creator of one viral deepfake featuring Traoré alongside R. Kelly admitted to the BBC that his video, which drew 1.8 million views, earned him $2,000 through YouTube monetization. “It’s purely AI. I think people should know. I’m not here to deceive anyone,” said 33-year-old Oguji Nnamdi Kenneth, who describes himself as a fan of the West African leader.

This digital campaign intensified following a US Senate hearing in early April, when the head of AFRICOM, General Michael Langley, accused Traoré of using the country’s gold reserves to protect his regime. The comments sparked a wave of social media posts falsely claiming the US planned to remove him from power.

One post with nearly a million followers on X mischaracterized Langley’s statements, claiming he called Traoré “a threat to his people” when the transcript shows he merely stated the proceeds from gold reserves were “just an exchange to protect the junta.”

Code for Africa identified a network of 165 Facebook accounts using identical messaging to amplify the false claim that Russian President Vladimir Putin had dispatched special forces to protect Traoré against the US—generating over 10.9 million views in just ten days. In reality, Russian soldiers were already present in Burkina Faso for counterterrorism operations unrelated to the US comments.

The misinformation campaign has included repurposing unrelated footage as evidence of international support. One widely shared video claimed to show crowds marching in France for “Ibrahim Traoré and Burkina Faso sovereignty,” but a reverse image search revealed it actually depicted anti-government protests in Belgrade, Serbia, from March 2025.

Pan-Africanist social media accounts first began boosting Traoré’s profile when he flew to St. Petersburg for the Russia-Africa Summit in July 2023. Images of him with Russian President Vladimir Putin and recordings of his speech were widely circulated online, with Russian state media notably amplifying his regional profile.

Despite being shown evidence that the Serbian protest video was falsely labeled, Ghanaian blogger Sulemana Mohammed, who had shared it on Facebook claiming it showed a pro-Traoré demonstration in South Africa, stood by his post. “It’s just so funny when people make it look like what we say about our leaders isn’t true,” he told the BBC, adding that he admires Traoré because “he has become what African people have been looking for all these years.”