- Former Togolese Agriculture Minister Noël Koutéra Bataka has officially assumed office as the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Country Representative in Burkina Faso.
- His appointment comes as IFAD expands its engagement in Burkina Faso, where it has financed 18 rural development programs worth $461.7 million since 1977.
- Bataka takes up the post as Burkina Faso prioritizes agricultural development and food sovereignty under President Ibrahim Traoré's government.
Former Togolese Agriculture Minister Noël Koutéra Bataka has officially assumed office as the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Country Representative in Burkina Faso, after presenting his cabinet letter to Foreign Minister Karamoko Jean Marie Traoré on Friday.
Bataka met Minister Traoré alongside Njoya Tikum, the new United Nations Resident Coordinator for Burkina Faso. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres appointed Tikum on July 18.
The new IFAD representative said he is ready to work with Burkina Faso's Ministry of Agriculture in line with the development priorities defined by the country's authorities.
Bataka's accreditation process has been under discussion since March 2025. At that time, Bernard Hien, IFAD's Regional Director for West and Central Africa, discussed the appointment of a country director "as soon as possible" with Minister Traoré, according to a statement from Burkina Faso's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
During the same discussions, Hien announced CFA121 billion ($197.2 million) in additional financing to support climate risk management and green finance initiatives across the Sahel.
IFAD, the Rome-based United Nations specialized financial institution dedicated to rural development, has financed 18 development programs in Burkina Faso since 1977. The institution has invested $461.67 million in those projects, benefiting 623,200 rural households, according to IFAD. The Fund also opened a country office in Ouaga 2000, Ouagadougou, in July 2024, strengthening its local presence.
Bataka graduated in agronomy from the University of Lomé in 2004. He also earned a Master's degree in Public Affairs from Paris-Dauphine University and completed studies at the École Nationale d'Administration (ENA) in Strasbourg.
He coordinated Togo's National Agricultural Investment Program (PNIASA) before becoming head of the Agricultural Financing Incentive Mechanism Based on Risk Sharing (MIFA) in June 2018. The public initiative seeks to reduce agricultural lending costs through risk-sharing mechanisms.
Bataka served as Togo's Minister of Agriculture, Animal and Fisheries Production from January 2019 to September 2020. In April 2021, he earned a doctorate in Culture, Art and Development from the Regional Institute for Higher Education and Research in Cultural Development in Lomé with a dissertation on reviving Togo's poultry industry.
Before his appointment in Burkina Faso, Bataka managed IFAD's portfolio for the Central African Republic and Equatorial Guinea from the institution's Yaoundé office.
Bataka takes office as relations between Burkina Faso and the United Nations continue to evolve. Authorities declared two previous U.N. Resident Coordinators persona non grata: Barbara Manzi in December 2022 and Carol Flore-Smereczniak in August 2025.
Burkina Faso, led by Captain Ibrahim Traoré, has made agricultural development and food sovereignty central pillars of its economic policy. In March 2025, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed IFAD's commitment to supporting that national strategy.
This article was initially published in French by Fiacre E. KAKPO
Adapted in English by Ange J. A de Berry Quenum