# CIA attention to West Africa

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "CIA attention to West Africa," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia-attention-to-west-africa/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*John Kiriakou's answer on whether the CIA is likely to be operating in Burkina Faso: for all the years he was at the agency it cared very little about Africa and especially West Africa, but the presence of al-Qaeda and Islamic State affiliates plus the drug trade makes CIA and special forces involvement probable — and, he adds, the American public will not hear about it.*

CIA attention to West Africa is John Kiriakou's short assessment of American covert interest in the Sahel, given in response to a question about whether the agency is likely to be involved in Burkina Faso because of what its leader Ibrahim Traoré is doing there.[1]

## The historical baseline

Kiriakou's first point is that the region was long a low priority. In all the years he was at the CIA, he says, the agency cared very very little about Africa, and especially about West Africa.[2]

## What changed

Two developments alter the calculation in his reading. The first is the emergence of what he calls a very healthy al-Qaeda or Islamic State presence in the region. The second is the drug trade, which he couples with it.[2] He has described the trafficking route through the region separately in [the West Africa cocaine route](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-west-africa-cocaine-route).

On that basis his answer is a qualified yes: it is possible, and he would guess that there is going to be CIA involvement and special forces involvement.[1][2]

## The reporting gap

Kiriakou adds a rider that he treats as equally certain. The American people, he says, are not going to have any idea, because it is not going to be reported.[2]

The observation matches his complaint elsewhere about undisclosed American spending in the Sahel, where he says billions of dollars are going to Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Conakry and Guinea-Bissau as what is supposed to be a big secret.[3]

## See also

- [The West Africa cocaine route](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-west-africa-cocaine-route)
- [The Secret Sahel Appropriations](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-secret-sahel-appropriations)
- [CIA Drug Facilitation](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia-drug-facilitation)

## Sources

1. Ask Ex-CIA Agent and Whistleblower John Kiriakou Anything (2025-10-16), at 1:38:33. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auddbc2c676&t=5913s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-10-16-seymizzle-podcast-ask-ex-cia-agent-and-whistleblower-john-kiria/
2. Ask Ex-CIA Agent and Whistleblower John Kiriakou Anything (2025-10-16), at 1:39:06. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auddbc2c676&t=5946s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-10-16-seymizzle-podcast-ask-ex-cia-agent-and-whistleblower-john-kiria/
3. Ukraine War, Mass Surveillance, Trump, UFOs & CIA Torture Ta (2023-08-24), at 33:31. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMlLBUqjmTg&t=2011s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2023-08-24-london-real-ukraine-war-mass-surveillance-trump-ufos-cia/

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From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia-attention-to-west-africa/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt