While the Nigerien government recently lowered the price of cement by 35%, a message relayed in Burkina Faso wrongly suggests that the country's president, Ibrahim Traoré, has also reduced the price of a bag of cement. A video circulating on social networks attributes the decision to set the price of a 50 kilo bag at 2,000 CFA francs (around 3 euros). But this is false: the video in question simply shows Ibrahim Traoré during the inauguration of the construction of a cement factory in Burkina Faso, where the price of cement has not fallen.
“Cement bag all 2000 FCFA“, writes an Internet user on Tik Tok above an 87-second video report where Captain Ibrahim Traoré, President of Burkina Faso, praises, in front of the camera, the potential of his country as an investment destination (link ici). He mentions a cement factory project, and his remarks are illustrated by images of factory workers and bags of cement.
However, we do not hear him mention a new tariff on cement in the country.
However, this assertion is shared on Facebook and gives rise to publications from Internet users from other countries who say they hope for a similar reduction in their country.
Decline in Niger
The message circulating at the moment stems from new cement pricing introduced in Niger, which is a member of the Alliance of Sahel States, just like Burkina Faso.
In fact, the Niamey authorities decided in mid-October to reduce the price of cement by 35% to facilitate lEfforts to rebuild the population after the damage caused by floods. According to local mediathe ton of cement previously sold at 90,000 CFA Francs (137.15 euros) now costs 55,000 CFA Francs (83.85 euros) on average.
However, the price of cement has not changed in Burkina Faso, and the video associated with this misleading message is not linked to new pricing.
Video out of context
We did a reverse image search using key scenes from the video we were checking, and found it on the YouTube channel of Radiodiffusion Télévision du Burkina, a state media outlet (archived link ici).
This is a report broadcast on August 8, 2024 in the RTB television news. The presenter announces that, that morning, “President Ibrahim Traoré inaugurated the launch of a calcined clay production unit, a material intended to compensate for the lack of local resources in this area. The project also includes a solar power plant to power this new installation.”
No announcement of new cement prices has been made. We simply hear Ibrahim Traoré declare: “We hope that, in a few years, this technology which will become popular will therefore make it possible to reduce cement costs.”
In May, the Burkina Information Agency, a state media outlet, announced that “a ton of cement remains at 106,000 FCFA (161.53 euros)”. This sets the average cost of a 50 kg bag at 5,300 FCFA (around 8 euros).
Cement is an essential material in urban areas in Africa. Industrialist Aliko Dangote, the continent's richest person (65th in the world), according to the latest ranking by the American financial group Bloomberg, has invested in this sector and exports cement to several African countries.
