White House excludes Burkina Faso from US-Africa trade deal

The United States will exclude Burkina Faso from the trade agreement linking the world’s leading power to African countries.

The White House justified the decision by the lack of progress toward a return to democracy, after the two military coups in the country since early 2022.

The exclusion of the West African country will be effective from January 1 next year.

According to U.S. Trade Ambassador Katherine Tai if “Burkina Faso makes the necessary decisions to meet the terms of the agreement and the return of democracy, the nation will be granted the opportunity to reintegrate into the programme.”