Fake News and AI: The Unseen Force Behind Traore’s Popularity
On January 7, 2025, when Burkina Faso’s military ruler, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, appeared at the swearing-in ceremony of Ghana’s elected President, John Dramani Mahama, he stole the show.
As his presence sparked rupturous cheers from the crowd amidst global dignitaries, one thing was immediately clear: Traoré had become an African ‘juggernaut.’
With not less than 21 Heads of State, including Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu and Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame, as well as former African leaders like ex-Nigerian Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Goodluck Jonathan, and former South African President Jacob Zuma, in attendance, Traoré probably received the highest ovation of that day, according to ace Nigerian Journalist and THISDAY columnist Olusegun Adeniyi, who witnessed the event.
Traoré becoming an overwhelming force which came to the fore at the Independence Square in Accra just within two years after forcefully taking over power is driven by a well-orchestrated machinery that carved an admirable reputation for him as the “African saviour,” but not all is organic. Many of these reports are fake, some even driven by Artificial Intelligence (AI).
From tough talks to diplomatic bravado, sharing romantic moments, depiction as a conqueror, and epic dance moves, down to misinforming narrative about economic progress amidst regional turmoil, Traoré’s macho and calculated portrayal in torrents of propaganda appealed to the fancy of young netizens on the continent.
Since seizing power in a September 2022 coup, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, Burkina Faso’s 37-year-old military leader, has emerged as a polarising figure in West African geopolitics, hailed by some as a pan-African revolutionary and criticised by others for authoritarian tendencies.
Traoré’s image as a charismatic, anti-Western leader has been meticulously crafted online.
TikTok is a Fertile Ground
On TikTok, hundreds of AI-generated videos portray him as a pan-African hero, often depicting him leading imaginary armies or toppling Western empires, with captions like “Africa’s Messiah!” or “France Must Fall!”
These videos, flooding Sub-Saharan African social media, frequently contain false claims, such as Traoré paying off Burkina Faso’s sovereign debt or developing Africa’s first electric cars.
Torrents of AI-driven propaganda
On TikTok, viral edits merge Traoré’s speeches with fabricated visuals, such as him addressing crowds in Western capitals or unveiling fictitious technological advancements. These videos, often shared by accounts with thousands of followers, gain traction through algorithmic amplification, reaching millions across Africa and its diaspora.
Facebook groups, particularly in Burkina Faso and neighbouring Mali and Niger, amplify these narratives. Users share AI-generated posters of Traoré draped in pan-African flags or glowing with celestial light.
Meanwhile, X serves as a battleground for both supporters and sceptics. Accounts like @DavidHundeyin have called out fake news, such as claims of Traoré banning pornography or discovering vast oil reserves, urging followers to get verified information from the Burkinabe government’s official news outlet @AibBurkina. On the other hand, sceptics have warned against X accounts like African Hub, which farm audience using Ibrahim Traore’s name.
In early March 2025, a video circulated across social media platforms, particularly WhatsApp, claiming that Traoré had launched the first African aircraft, vehicle, and smartphone company.
The transcript of the trending video, featuring a male AI broadcaster, reads in part: ”Captain Ibrahim Traoré has just made history by launching his line of aircraft, vehicles, and smartphones, sending shockwaves through the global market. His bold move to position Burkina Faso as a tech and manufacturing powerhouse has sparked major backlash from Western leaders and corporate giants, including Donald Trump and Elon Musk.”
However, that news was not found on Burkina Faso’s official presidential palace website, the website of its foreign ministry, nor any credible news platform. Further technical analysis, using Deepware AI scanner, revealed indications of digital manipulation and AI generation.
The scanner analysed the video using multiple deepfake detection models such as Deepware, Avatarify, Seferbekov, and Ensemble. Each engine gave a different confidence level or verdict on whether the video might be a deepfake (that is, manipulated using AI-generated faces, voices, and movements). Avatarify detected 0% sign of manipulation, which means Avatarify-style manipulation wasn’t found. However, Deepware’s model detected 90% of deepfakes. Other models detected 38% and 34% deepfake detection, respectively.
In mid-April, the photo of a supposed US Army General threatening Burkina Faso emerged, claiming that Traoré had become a threat to his own people. Subsequently, synthetic media emerged across platforms, claiming to show Burkina Faso being “invaded” by the United States under the guidance of the US General.
Using PimEyes facial recognition, the photo was found to be that of Michael Elliot Langley, a United States Marine Corps General who served as the commander of the US Africa Command since August 9, 2022. Such comments or actions were officially attributed to Langley, the first black four-star general in the US Marine Corps. The remark that sparked the manipulated comments was explained in an article by DUBAWA Ghana.
Similar AI-generated propaganda takes an exponential dimension on YouTube. Using the advanced search option on Mattw and certain keywords — including #IbrahimTraore, #BurkinaFaso2025, #PanAfricanism, #PutinTraore2025, #TraoreVibes and #AfricaRising — we geotagged 23 current videos across nine channels in various locations across Africa and the United States of America with possible AI-generated content. An inspection of the metadata of each channel leads to other channels with related content.
This AI video of Traoré hugging Nicolás Maduro Moros, President of Venezuela, in a diplomatic gesture, for example, has its location set to the United States and has 47 videos on Ibrahim Traoré vs France, 13 videos on Traoré and Donald Trump and several other videos with various titles associated with Traoré and Burkina Faso.
Three weeks ago, an AI-generated video claiming to show Burkina Faso’s leader, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, handing over 15 mobile clinics and cold chain equipment to help improve healthcare access and keep vaccines safe, appeared on Facebook.
“The new clinics will allow people in remote areas to get medical help more easily,” the report says.
George Mills wrote in the video’s comment section, “Soon ???????? Burkina will be better than the USA. Give him 10 years, and you’ll be looking at a different country (sic).”
Another commentator, Skhumbuzo Phakathi, quickly responded, “10 years is too long. He delivers every day. Our greedy leaders are jealous; they don’t even congratulate or defend him.”
We analysed the video and it was rated 93% by the Ensemble deepfake model, showing a 98% match with the Seferebekov style manipulation.
Another manipulated video of him allegedly delivering a very powerful speech at the “Russian/African Summit of 2024” soon surfaced on TikTok and spread across other platforms while another TikTok video, with over 25,000 reactions, over 7,000 shares and over a thousand, comments claimed that Traoré was saved from an assassination attempt by a cow after the cow blocked his way for a while and an explosion occurred just where he would have been if the animal hadn’t interfered.
Anti-colonial narratives
From personality to diplomacy, and economy, Traoré’s AI-driven propaganda has effectively fostered an anti-colonial message that resonates with an African generation disenchanted by the unfulfilled promises of neoliberalism and the failures of post-independence elites.
Diplomatically, one of the propaganda videos claims that the junta had promised to create a United States of Africa with one currency and a single passport. He has also vowed not to tolerate corruption in his government in this clearly generated video, as seen in the unnatural movements, mismatched audio/video, camera angle, stiff and jerky movement of characters and lack of dynamic micro-movements in facial expression that characterise real-life interactions.
While previous synthetic propaganda claimed that the United States is invading Burkina Faso in order to topple Traoré, various other social media feeds peddled AI-generated narratives that first claimed that US President Donald Trump was begging to meet Traoré, an overture rejected by the Burkinabe military ruler, and that a meeting eventually took place between the two leaders in Doha, Qatar.
In one Facebook video, he is being hailed by the AI voice-over as a revolutionary fighting Western dominance for the unity of Africa.
Traoré’s personality has also been propped up in various AI-driven videos, like this May 4 YouTube video with 1.9 million views, where he kisses an undefined woman, and this video featuring an AI-generated news anchor in military uniform calling out the West’s desperate attempt to demonise him. Also, apparently, his humility in flying Air France brought an encounter that led to a follow-up story where he launched Air Burkina afterwards.
His resoluteness and firm resolve were equally depicted in AI-generated videos like this one, where he unequivocally declared to the enemies of Burkina Faso, “You no longer hunt us, we hunt you!”
Economically, he was said to have given 8,000 people jobs in one day, announced the country’s fold stock increase by 90 per cent since the removal of foreign dominance, and declared Burkina Faso a tax-free nation and so on.
These narratives have fueled agitations for military intervention across Africa. Recently, claims of an attempted military coup in Ivory Coast surfaced, but were immediately debunked.
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Meanwhile, Burkina Faso’s diplomatic ties to Russia remain in the open. Traoré had himself called for deeper military and scientific links with Russia while on a visit to Moscow, where he met President Putin on May 9. Before this meeting, an AI-driven video of Putin hailing Traoré and assuring him that all black people are behind him and another video of Putin warning that “if they touch you (Traoré), they touch me” were circulated. A reinforcement of the same video is seen in other places as well.
A video also emerged claiming to show Traoré warning that he would invite Russia to place nuclear weapons in Burkina Faso if the US threatens them. Commentators were polled to comment “yes” if they think he is brave, with many responding in the affirmative.
More videos of Traore reportedly arresting those responsible for killing 200 Burkinabe soldiers, outsmarting the Western plot to kill him, and winning over the hearts of trained assassins hired to kill him, as seen here and in a sequel here, have all continued to trend.
Other AI-driven propaganda elevating Traore can be viewed here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here, among others, with various narratives ranging from the discovery of a massive gold deposit, production of homemade armoured vehicles, and provision of free housing and farms, respectively.
This propaganda has led to his glorification by influencers, news platforms and even religious leaders. In one of his recent videos that extolled the virtues of Captain Ibrahim Traoré, Wode Maya, a Ghanaian YouTuber with 1.8 million subscribers, dubbed the coup leader Africa’s most loved President. On May 12, 2025, BBC Hausa with 7.7 million followers posted photos of the military junta with a caption that translates thus, “Burkina Faso’s President, Captain Ibrahim Traoré has established himself as a leader that loves Africa…”
The BBC went ahead to reel out reasons why Traoré is gaining global popularity and acceptance. Many of the comments in Hausa prayed and wished for a leader like him.
On Friday, May 23, a popular Kano-based Islamic scholar, Sheikh Ibrahim Daurawa, extolled the Burkinabe leader while on the pulpit during a Jumma’at sermon, berating the condition Nigerian leaders have thrown their masses in.
Some round facts
Several claims in the AI-driven propaganda lacked credible evidence or official confirmation.
The claim that Burkina Faso has paid off its national debt, for example, is false. According to the African Development Bank, the country’s debt is projected to rise to 65% of GDP in 2024–25, driven by increased issuance of public securities to cover the financing gap. Trading Economics also reports a government debt to GDP of 61% in 2023, with expectations to reach 62% by the end of 2024. A more indebt fact-check on this was published by Reuters on April 16.
A video of a flight attendant disrespecting Traoré was found to have been fabricated, as confirmed by this DUBAWA fact check on May 15.
Similarly, there is no credible evidence that Burkina Faso has introduced Africa’s first electric cars under Traoré’s leadership. Countries like South Africa and Kenya have been developing and deploying electric vehicles before 2025.
Also, no military action against Burkina Faso by the United States has been reported by reputable news sources or official statements.
The viral video of Traoré declaring that no taxes will be collected from individuals and businesses in the West African country has been flagged as AI-generated by this fact-check by The Cable on the subject.
There is also no credible evidence or reports confirming that US President Donald Trump met with Traoré in Doha. In fact, according to the publicly available schedule of the U.S. President, Trump was very much in his home country on that day, where he received a daily intelligence briefing, had lunch with the Vice President, and attended the MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) Commission Meeting as corroborated by the White House official website.
Also, the claim that Traoré has declared Burkina Faso a tax-free nation is based on a manipulated video. In reality, Burkina Faso passed the 2025 Finance Act in December 2024, which introduced new tax reforms, including taxation for e-commerce platforms.
Earlier in May, a message circulating on Facebook claimed that Nigeria had launched a missile strike on Burkina Faso’s capital, Ouagadougou, targeting the country’s military head of state, Ibrahim Traoré. But the claim was found to be false according to an Africa Check fact-check.
Amidst turmoil
While in this synthetic video, Traoré is seen declaring that terrorism is almost over, Burkina Faso has been mired in a deepening crisis since 2015, driven by escalating jihadist violence, political instability, and humanitarian challenges that have rendered it one of the most volatile nations in the Sahel. The country faces recurrent terrorist attacks, primarily from Al-Qaeda-affiliated Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimeen (JNIM) and Islamic State in the Greater Sahel (ISGS), which have exploited weak governance, ethnic tensions, and socioeconomic grievances to expand their influence. By March 2023, over 2 million people—roughly 10% of the population—were internally displaced, with violence spreading from the northern and eastern regions to the south and west, targeting civilians and infrastructure like schools and health facilities.
According to the European Commission, over 5,700 schools closed by May 2024, depriving 800,000 children of education, while 426 health facilities will shut down, limiting healthcare access for 4 million people. Food insecurity affects 2.7 million people, exacerbated by conflict-related restrictions on movement and access to markets, with the March 2024 Cadre Harmonisé reporting crisis-level acute food insecurity.
The military junta under Captain Ibrahim Traoré, who seized power in a 2022 coup, has struggled to restore territorial control, with an estimated 60% of the country outside state authority, particularly in the tri-border area with Mali and Niger.
The Global Terrorism Index (GTI) underscores Burkina Faso’s dire security situation, ranking it as the world’s most terrorism-affected country in both 2024 and 2025. In 2023, the GTI reported 1,907 terrorism-related deaths in Burkina Faso, a 68% increase from the previous year, despite a 17% decrease in attacks, indicating higher lethality per incident. The country accounted for nearly a quarter of global terrorism deaths, with northwestern regions near Mali and Niger bearing the brunt. By 2024, the GTI 2025 noted a 21% decline in deaths to 1,532, yet Burkina Faso retained its top ranking, reflecting persistent violence. A single JNIM attack in Centre-Nord in 2024 killed between 200 and 600 people, highlighting the scale of the threat. The Sahel region, including Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, accounted for over half of global terrorism deaths in 2024, driven by jihadist groups exploiting political instability following coups and the withdrawal of Western forces.
Over 6,100 fatalities were recorded in 2024, with civilians comprising over half of terrorism-related deaths, a trend exacerbated by JNIM’s targeted attacks, such as the August 2024 massacre of over 400 villagers. Despite economic growth of 4% in 2024, driven by agriculture and services, the African Development Bank warns that insecurity and political instability threaten sustainability, with debt projected to reach 65% of GDP.
Networks and suspected sources
While tracing the origins of AI-generated content is challenging due to the anonymity of platforms like TikTok and the rapid spread of content across decentralised networks, some of the uncovered sources behind such campaigns reveal a potential network with geopolitical motives.
The Telegraph reports that Traoré’s burgeoning reputation is “expertly boosted” by Russian disinformation, aiming to distract from Burkina Faso’s dire security situation, where jihadist insurgencies have displaced over two million people. The African Initiative, headed by former Wagner Group member Viktor Lukovenko, operates in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger—countries aligned with Russia after expelling French forces. This suggests a state-backed effort to amplify Traoré’s image, possibly using AI tools to generate scalable propaganda.
The weaponisation of AI in grey and black propaganda is about narrative control,” says Yushau Shuaib, a crisis communication expert and AI-in-PR specialist. “It turns dangerous when it shifts from glorifying leaders to silencing dissent—seen in how Ibrahim Traoré’s image is being amplified across Africa.”
Using AI to falsely promote Traoré’s “achievements” is part of a growing trend of digital image laundering in unstable regions. By mixing real footage with fake content, propagandists create a hybrid reality that’s hard to challenge.
“We’re in a new era of information warfare,” Shuaib warns. “The line between truth and fiction is fading, and platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook seem to be key enablers.”
“Threat to Regional Democratic efforts,” experts warn
As Africa’s democratic institutions come under growing pressure, experts have warned that AI-generated misinformation is not only distorting public perception but dangerously glamorising military regimes at the expense of democratic values.
According to Dr Aminu Hayatu, a renowned expert in strategic studies and security research, the use of AI-generated content to project authoritarian regimes as the true defenders of African sovereignty is not only distorting facts, but also weakening the collective democratic resolve of regional blocs like the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
Dr Hayatu, who is also a senior lecturer at the Department of Political Science, Bayero University Kano, said the narrative peddled through AI-powered disinformation campaigns is alarmingly effective. “These AI-driven narratives—masquerading as authentic voices—portray military juntas as courageous, anti-imperialist liberators,” he said. “Meanwhile, democratically elected governments are framed as puppets of foreign interests, weak and ineffective.”
This false dichotomy, he noted, is dangerously misleading. “Out of every ten contents, nine might be deliberately scripted to push an anti-Western narrative,” he explained. “The problem is that because of how sophisticated AI is now, many people can no longer distinguish between fact and fabrication.”
Such manipulation, he said, is not just a challenge for individual countries but a direct threat to regional democracy efforts and security cooperation frameworks. “It has the tendency to undermine democratic norms in the region and provoke destabilising outcomes,” Dr Hayatu stated. “For ECOWAS, this means more difficulty in managing regional peace and stability, especially when military regimes start gaining public legitimacy through fabricated public opinion.”
Hayatu’s concern is shared by Ambassador Abdullahi Bindawa, ECOWAS Country Facilitator and United Nations Security Expert, who specifically referenced the wave of pro-military propaganda linked to the leadership in Burkina Faso.
“AI propaganda will not change the geopolitical reality of someone like Traoré except to make his bilateral relationship with the world weak,” Ambassador Bindawa said. “It may create a digital illusion, but more critically, the negative impact of such manipulation is an increase in regional instability, especially within the AES [Alliance of Sahel States] region. This instability will likely spill into neighbouring countries.”
The Alliance of Sahel States, composed of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger—each under military rule—has become a hotbed of digitally-manufactured narratives, often pushing an aggressive anti-ECOWAS and anti-West rhetoric.
“Such false narratives have strategic consequences,” Ambassador Bindawa added. “They’re not just soft power games; they fuel disunity and erode the foundation of collective regional security.”
On his part, Silas Jonathan, Lead Researcher at the Digital Technology, Artificial Intelligence and Information Disorder Analysis Centre (DAIDAC), also highlighted the troubling marriage between disinformation and Pan-African rhetoric.
“Democracy is under threat, and information technology is the tool here,” Jonathan said. “These narratives, although tied to Pan-Africanism, are fleshed with propaganda and disinformation. We see this clearly in the plethora of deepfakes and unverified videos circulating online that lack any factual grounding.”
He challenged the portrayal of Traoré as a revolutionary African leader. “If Traoré is being sold as Africa’s new hope, people should remember how he got into power—through a coup. Democracy is not perfect, so is military rule, but unlike military regimes, Democracy has at least the tendency to assure transparency, human rights and accountability, even if argued to be a facade.”
Dr Hayatu agreed, adding that excessive regulation does not answer the current challenge. “What we need is a literate public that can critically evaluate the information they encounter. We don’t need more regulations —we need more knowledge,” he said.
Experts argue that without a coordinated response—rooted in digital literacy, media accountability, and regional cooperation—Africa risks losing its hard-earned democratic progress to the seductive, synthetic narratives of artificial intelligence.
“If we allow disinformation to shape public opinion unchecked, we’re not just risking our democratic institutions,” Dr Hayatu warned. “We’re dismantling the very idea of a united, sovereign, and secure Africa.”
Meanwhile, as Traoré’s populist appeal grows, tangible reforms remain limited, and Burkina Faso’s security crisis worsens, with militia attacks on civilians rising since his 2022 coup. The digital veneer of success obscures these failures, complicating accountability.
Dahiru a Kwame Kari Kari fact checking and open source intelligence fellow 2025, is head of fact check at PRNigeria
