Laurent Gbagbo now appears on a mural in Ouagadougou presented as a “Pantheon” of great figures of Pan-Africanism. The former Ivorian president is depicted alongside Nelson Mandela, Patrice Lumumba, Kwame Nkrumah, and Ahmed Sékou Touré.
The articles dedicated to this mural present it as a symbolic initiative in Ouagadougou, rather than as an official decoration of the Burkinabe state. The creators of the installation notably highlight Laurent Gbagbo’s background as an opposition figure and intellectual.
A political context marked by the PPA-CI’s support for the AES
This promotion comes a few months after the first ordinary congress of the African Peoples Party–Ivory Coast (PPA-CI), held on May 14 and 15 in Abidjan. Laurent Gbagbo’s party adopted a motion in support of the Sahel States Alliance, which brings together Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger.
The motion affirmed the PPA-CI’s support for the peoples and leaders of the AES and highlighted sovereignty and pan-Africanism as political pillars. This position helped bring the Ivorian party’s discourse closer to that advocated by the authorities and supporters of the Sahelian regimes.
The presence of Gbagbo on the Ouagadougou mural thus illustrates a symbolic recognition in certain Burkinabe pan-Africanist circles. It does not, by itself, constitute a diplomatic or institutional announcement between Côte d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso.
Laurent Gbagbo, 81 years old, still presides over the PPA-CI after being re-elected as its leader at the May 2026 congress.
