Michel Kafando is a Burkinabé diplomat who served as the transitional President of Burkina Faso from 2014 to 2015. He served in the government as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1982 to 1983 and was the Permanent Representative (Ambassador) of Burkina Faso to the United Nations from 1998 to 2011.
Kafando in 2015
Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,878 sq mi), bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. As of 2021, the country had an estimated population of 23,674,480. Previously called Republic of Upper Volta (1958–1984), it was renamed Burkina Faso by President Thomas Sankara. Its citizens are known as Burkinabè, and its capital and largest city is Ouagadougou.
The cavalry of the Mossi Kingdoms were experts at raiding deep into enemy territory, even against the formidable Mali Empire.
Armed men prevent the French explorer Louis-Gustave Binger from entering Sia (Bobo-Dioulasso) during his stay in April 1892.
The capital, Ouagadougou, in 1930
Maurice Yaméogo, the first president of Upper Volta, examines documents pertaining to the ratification of the country's independence in 1960
