Cooling towers at a nuclear plant in Belgium. Credit: TonyV3112 via Shutterstock.

The military Government of Burkina Faso and Russia’s state-owned nuclear company Rosatom on Friday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU)  to build a nuclear power plant to boost energy supply in the West African state.

Citing a statement from Burkina Faso’s energy ministry, Reuters reports that the nuclear plant will enable the country to meet the energy needs of the nation’s population. The MoU was signed by Burkina Faso Energy and Mines Minister Simon-Pierre Boussim and Rosatom’s deputy director general Nikolay Spasskiy.

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The agreement follows a request from Burkina Faso junta leader Captain Ibrahim Traore to Russian President Vladimir Putin during the Russia-Africa summit held in St Petersburg in July.

“We have a critical need for energy, this is an important point for me because we need, if possible, to build a nuclear power station in Burkina Faso to produce electricity,” he was quoted as saying at the time, according to BBC News.

“Our position is rather strategic because we are in the heart of West Africa, and we have an energy deficit in the sub-region.”

Traore seized power after a military coup in the country in September last year. He has moved closer to Russia as the state’s relationship with former colonial power France grows strained. Since its invasion of Ukraine and subsequent alienation from European markets, Russia has moved to strengthen ties with African nations.

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Rosatom said in its own statement that “the memorandum is the first document in the field of the peaceful use of atomic energy between Russia and Burkina Faso”, the Moscow Times reports.

Burkina Faso is one of the least electrified countries in the world, with just 21% of its population connected to a power source. The MoU with Russia is part of the African nation’s plan to achieve 95% electrical access to urban areas and 30% to rural areas by 2030, although it did not give details on funding or construction timelines for the proposed nuclear plant.