Terrorist Attack in Burkina Faso

Hotel Splendid, Ouagadougo Burkina Faso

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In the news Saturday are reports of a terrorist attack in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso at the Hotel Splendid.  Most people are probably trying to figure out where this garden spot is. I know and I have provided a picture. I have stayed at the Hotel Splendid, in fact, right about where the fireball is erupting.  That was five years ago.

Ouagadougou is the capital city of Burkina Faso, a former French colony.  It bills itself as the “Cannes of Africa” despite the fact that it landlocked. They hold a week long film festival on an annual basis. I was there to conduct a survey of the United States Embassy and spent a week there.

The hotel is on par with a down market Hilton.  It was comfortable and outside of the coffee acceptable to western tastes.  Never got a good cup of coffee the entire time I was there.  Did you know people actually drink Nescafe?

The common language is French, so a sidewalk cafe across the street run by an English speaking Lebanese guy was welcome.  I noticed that the people were polite, not only with obvious outsiders but also to each other.  I also learned that nobody is able to make change.

My partner and I got settled in the sidewalk cafe to drink a cold beer or two and soon discovered we had a cigarette shortage.  We tried the waitress, no they didn’t sell cigarettes, but not to worry.  She soon flagged down a street vendor who was carrying two cases of Marlboros.  The smallest bill I had was a 10,000 CEDI.

Apparently this would have bought both cases. He offered a carton of Marlboros. I opted for a pack, not knowing how old the cigarettes were. No change.  Oh well, maybe later.  The vendor wouldn’t take no, he left two packs of cigarettes with the understanding we would settle up at the end of the night. I had been in country five hours and already established credit. We settled up at the end of the night.  From that point forward our cigarette source was secure.

My partner Cory had more experience in Africa that I.  He observed two very pretty 20 something girls giving us the eye.  I found out that gray hair is not off putting in Africa and therefore I was no longer invisible.  They indicated to our waitress that they would like to join us. Cory was convinced they were probably prostitutes and indicated that we weren’t in the market. That didn’t stop them, one of them spoke a little English and wanted to practice.  My French, forgotten forty years ago, consisted of Je m’appelle Paul and Voulez vous coucher, avec moi? I wisely refrained from inflicting my French on them.

One young lady worked in a shop and the English speaking one (after a fashion) had just opened her own beauty shop.  They were curious about America but had no interest in immigrating.  As the beauty shop operator put it why would she want to start over with nothing?

As we traveled back and forth to the Embassy I observed a vibrant street scene.  Market stalls sprung up wherever there was shoulder to pull off the road.  Attached to our hotel was a sidewalk kiosk that was about 10 feet long 4 feet wide and 10 feet high.  Every available inch of wall space was devoted to selling books,videos and software.  The vast majority of it devoted to how to; start a business, learn bookkeeping, and how to get ahead.  Everybody seemed busy.

Was there a downside?  Sure, infrastructure was crumbling.  The local cops were sent out with a pistol and half a magazine of ammunition, no spare magazines, no extra ammo and no idea how long it had been since they had qualified.  The Regional Security Officer (RSO) for the American Embassy was driving an SUV that was in transit from the next country north down to Ghana in the south.  It was stuck in Burkina Faso waiting for somebody that needed to travel to Ghana.  What would have been an eight hour drive in the US had taken 18 hours with another 18 hours to go.  Without reliable regional transportation, railroads and highways Africa cannot realize its fullest potential.  

The Chinese are all over Africa.  They are building roads, dams, electrical generating capacity and airports.  The United States is social engineering. Is it any wonder why we are losing the battle for hearts and minds?