Burkina Faso . It is estimated that not many people in this country know about it now. This small country with an area of 270,000 square kilometers and a population of no more than 20 million has no sense of existence on the international stage. The only thing that can prove it exists is that only a series of negative news. But few people know that there was a great man known as "Che Guevara of Africa" in this country - Thomas Sankara. In Africa, where there are only men who eat human flesh and drink human blood, Sankara is like a fierce man from the sky.
said that Sankara is a fierce man from heaven is not a compliment at all. He never smokes or drinks, has no hobbies of low-level fun, and only wants to develop the country. However, Burkina Faso is a model of a poor country. The treasury is so poor that even rats have to commit suicide when they enter. It is definitely not an easy thing to develop in such a place. As for ordinary countries, it is estimated that they had planned to borrow money to develop at this time, while Sankara chose a different route. He planned to develop purely by Burkina Faso's own strength, which can be said to be extremely ideal.
So, can Burkina Faso usher in its brilliant future under the leadership of Sankara? Unfortunately, the cruel reality did not change to personal ideals. Sankara's self-reliance policy soon ushered in Waterloo, and the reason was particularly realistic - no money.
For Sankara, who just came to power in August 1983, the first thing he had to solve was the problem of eating in Burkina Faso. This broken place has extremely harsh agricultural environment, and cotton has been planted in places where you can farm. This painful situation was mainly caused by the French and previous governments. The loans France had given to the former government were used to grow cotton, and the former government used the money from selling cotton at low prices to buy French goods. After a while, the former government's corrupt officials made a lot of money, the landlords and wealthy people also got their own money, France gained trade deficit , while ordinary people were basically on the verge of starvation. I figured out what the problem is. Then the rest is to solve the problem. I just need to change the cotton-growing ground to grow grain? That being said, it would be different if you really do it. Sankara can indeed distribute all the landlords and wealthy land to farmers, but farmers are also more interested in growing cotton because cotton really makes money. There is no way. Sankara must not allow farmers to grow grain with red mouths and white teeth. He can only increase the purchase price of agricultural products, hoping to encourage farmers to grow less cotton and more grains.
But the problem is that although it is good to do this, where does the treasury in Burkina Faso get so much money to increase the price of agricultural products? Obviously, I can only live a life with my belt tightening, not to mention that in order to solve the problem of soil erosion, Sankara has to encourage people to plant trees and afforestation to fight desertification. Don’t think that planting trees will cost you no money. This kind of project that looks ordinary in a big country is a national project. The pitiful reserves in Burkina Faso will be quickly exhausted. Of course, Sankara's three tricks were not in vain. In two years, he basically achieved self-sufficiency in Burkina Faso.
Originally, Sankara had already been regarded as a model of a wise ruler in Africa when she did this, but Sankara had a big picture and had a lot of things he wanted to do, such as building a highway network throughout Burkina Faso, building 350 community schools, setting up clinics in every village, injecting every newborn into vaccines, ensuring civilian medicine, etc. Everything Sankara wanted to do was beneficial to the country and the people, but the problem was quickly left behind. The treasury in Burkina Faso was out of money, and the poor government finance could not do so much.
In fact, many people can’t understand this. Can’t Burkina Faso achieve self-sufficiency in food? Why can the treasury still lose money? The reason is simple. Burkina Faso’s food self-sufficiency is based on a very fragile closed loop. Burkina Faso encourages farmers to grow grain by raising the purchase price of agricultural products. Although this can encourage farmers to have more varieties of grain, a considerable part of the government's fiscal expenditure is spent on this.The same is true for planting trees and afforestation. This kind of project will benefit thousands of years, but in a short period of time, it is all about spending money but not investing money. The government's fiscal expenditure has increased.
Then what is the fiscal revenue of Burkina Faso? Sorry, the economic industry in Burkina Faso cannot be said to be none, at least it is better than nothing, and the treasury is in a state of moonlight for many years. It is impossible for you to expect Sankara to generate a lot of money. He is an aspiring leader, not the God of Wealth who turns stones into gold. Burkina Faso has already done its best to support this matter. If a drought suddenly occurs, the self-sufficiency of food that Burkina Faso has finally achieved will collapse instantly.
So is there a solution to the problem? The answer is yes, borrow money. Although Africa was no longer the focus of , the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1980s, Britain and France were still very interested in this place. In order to ensure its influence in the former colonial countries, Britain and France have scattered loans, among which France, as the Supreme Emperor of West Africa, even scattered a lot of loans. The four presidents in Sankara also lived on loans from abroad. When Burkina Faso called Walter in the early years, the government relied on this loan to run the country.
Although the previous presidents are ineffective, at least they have proved that borrowing money is completely possible. If you borrow a loan from abroad now to implement various development strategies, it is theoretically unacceptable. But in Sankara's eyes, lending is a self-destructive operation. Whoever you borrow money from will be controlled by whom he only intends to rely on Burkina Faso's own strength to achieve development. Therefore, during the reign of Sankara, Burkina Faso rarely received international aid. It is not that he has not received international aid, but that this aid can only be regarded as a superficial one and cannot be said to solve the big problem.
Is Sankara's idea right? Yes, but not exactly right. According to our experience, the more you rely on the outside, the easier it is to be controlled. This is also Sankara’s concern. From this point of view, Sankara is not considered a mistake. But from the perspective of small African countries, not borrowing foreign loans is a difficult thing, because these countries have no money, and it is too difficult to develop on their own strength. This is also the sadness of most small countries. They cannot rely on their own strength to seek development. They can ensure food and clothing and do their best. If they want to achieve greater development, they can only seek help from big countries.
The cruelty of the world is not changed by the individual’s will. It is impossible for small countries to be completely independent because they do not have the confidence to guarantee their dignity as a sovereign state. This will not change anything just because Burkina Faso is a communist country or Sankara's own insistence. Sankara doesn't want to rely on the outside, but the treasury of Burkina Faso can no longer support further development. Sankara, who does not borrow foreign loans, can only obtain funds by squeezing the domestic market. This practice will cause a strong rebound and become the biggest failure during Sankara's administration, and this is another story.
