AFP Factuel, Agence France-Presse’s fact-checking unit, authenticated and debunked a video that has circulated on X and Facebook since late August. The edit puts words in the mouth of Abdou-Salam Gampéné, secretary-general of Burkina Faso’s Prime Minister’s office, accusing Russia of failing to honour its fuel-delivery commitments — supposedly explaining the diesel price rise decided on 10 August. AFP Factuel shows that the original video, aired by state broadcaster RTB on 9 August, never mentions Russia: the audio was AI-generated to make him say something else.

My contribution

Asked by AFP to place the price rise in its regional context, I explained that it stems from the oil shock tied to the Middle East conflict (the closure and then restriction of the Strait of Hormuz since late February 2026 pushed Brent from $70 to over $130 before it settled around $95) and from the gradual exhaustion of public subsidies: Mali as early as March, Côte d’Ivoire and Benin in May, Burkina Faso on 10 August, then Senegal on 15 August, after more than 245 billion CFA francs in subsidies committed since January. None of this has anything to do with a dispute with Moscow.

→ Read the fact-check on AFP Factuel (in French)