Fact Check: Burkina Faso announces $14 billion trade deal with India? No, president’s video is deepfake

Hyderabad: As US President Trump imposes a 50 per cent tariff on Indian goods, a video of Burkina Faso’s President Ibrahim Traoré announcing a $14 billion grain deal with India has been circulating on social media.

Traoré also allegedly criticises exploitation by the US and European nations as his reason for signing the trade agreement with India.

In the video, he could allegedly be heard saying, “They said a landlocked nation could never command the seas. They said poor farmers could never feed the giants of the world. They said Africa’s place was only to export raw gold and cotton, never dignity and power. Today, Burkina Faso proves them wrong. Brothers and sisters, I tell you this: when the world woke at dawn, it thought it was just another morning. But for us, it was the rising of a new chapter in history. India and Burkina Faso have signed a partnership worth $14 billion. A grain agreement that carries not only sorghum and maize, but sovereignty and pride…”

He could also be heard saying, “Why not the United States or Europe or the others who came before? The answer is simple. The West came with chains disguised as contracts. They came with tariffs on our exports, squeezing every farmer’s sweat for their profit. They wanted our grain at a low price, but they wanted to sell us their chemicals, machines and promises at a high price. That is not a partnership. That is exploitation…”

An X user shared the video with the caption, “Ibrahim Traore Seals $14 Billion Mega Grain Deal with India. The fields of Africa are no longer silent. They are speaking through wheat, maize and millet. For decades, the world ignored the soil of this continent, treating it as cheap, disposable and invisible. But now, that same soil has become the battlefield where billions are at stake.” (Archive)

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is false, as the video is a deepfake.

Reports on the agreement with Burkina Faso

We ran a keyword search but found no media reports on Burkina Faso signing a trade agreement with India. We also reviewed the official website of Burkina Faso’s Office of the President and its social media handles (Facebook, X and YouTube), but found no reference to such a deal.

However, we came across a report by The Print stating that India’s Ministry of External Affairs confirmed to the media outlet that the viral video is false.

Discrepancy in the video

We noticed several discrepancies characteristic of artificially generated videos, such as the President’s unnaturally stiff posture, the insignia on his cap shifting between frames and the flat tone of the speech.