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Some viral videos being shared across various social media platforms show a housing project supposedly being built by Burkina Faso’s military leader, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, for his citizens.
In the video, several 10 storey-building projects nearly completed are shown and claimed to be affordable housing projects for Burkinabes in Burkina Faso.
These videos are gaining lots of traction and sparking conversations online as rent issues are very relatable with many people (here, here, and here).
Several users have shared the video with varying captions such as “Captain Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso is almost done with the construction of the free housing in the country. Incredible” and “Free housing in Burkina Faso”.
In this report, Fact-Check Ghana has verified the video and found out that the buildings are not in Burkina Faso as claimed.
Claim: The viral videos show an affordable housing project in Burkina Faso built by Captain Ibrahim Traore
Verdict: False
Explanation:
The viral video showing the building project is not from Burkina Faso as claimed.
A reverse image search conducted by Fact-Check Ghana revealed that the building project shown in the viral video is in Réghaïa, a municipality in Algeria. The buildings are the National Agency for the Improvement and Development of Housing (AADL) project in Algiers, not in Burkina Faso. In July 2024, the AADL was commissioned (See here, here and here).
Fact-Check Ghana gathered that Captain Traoré has started a building project, which is expected to bring massive transformation in Burkina Faso, but that project is not what’s captured in the video.
In October 2024, Burkina Faso’s minister in charge of Construction, Mikailou Sidibé, laid the foundation stone of the housing project, which is called the “Burkindi Business Centre”; a real estate complex which is reported to be worth more than 320 billion FCFA. That building project is said to consist of the Burkindi Tower, a 35-story building, 14 buildings of 15 levels and a 3-story shopping centre.
According to the reports, the building is a public-private partnership deal between the Burkinabe government and Kastor Africa Group. The project, which has just been commenced, is the only major housing project the government is working on and is expected to be completed in four years. It’s therefore not what is being shown in the viral video.
Also, there’s no evidence to support the claim that the new building project the Burkinabe government is raising is going to be free for citizens, as it is a public-private partnership.
Therefore, the claim that the buildings in the viral video are in Burkina Faso and are being put up by its leader, Ibrahim Traoré, is false.
