A United Front Against Debt

In July 1987, three months before he was assassinated, Thomas Sankara stood at the Organisation of African Unity summit in Addis Ababa and called the African debt what it was: neocolonial bondage.

His proposal was simple. Refuse to pay. Together.

"Debt is a cleverly managed reconquest of Africa. We are told to repay. We will not repay. The debt cannot be paid because, first, if we don't pay, lenders will not die. But if we do pay, we are going to die."

Three months later, on 15 October 1987, Sankara was killed in a coup organised by his closest friend Blaise Compaoré. France's hand has been documented; Houphouët-Boigny's, proven; the CIA's, alleged but unconfirmed.

What Sankara understood — and what makes his line "He who feeds you, controls you" the spine of this brand — is that political sovereignty without economic sovereignty is a costume. Aid is a leash. The IMF is a leash. The World Bank is a leash.

The Alliance of Sahel States (Burkina, Mali, Niger), formed in 2023, is the most serious attempt at Sankara's united front in a generation. Whether it survives is the most important political question on the continent.

This is what Faso is anchored to.