Yea, good points, it remains to be seen if the push for socialism/nationalism in those countries is a) genuine and b) will actually work and not just result in a situation where the old thieves are replaced by new thieves.

Putin is [...] pushing the anti colonialism narrative everywhere in West Africa. It is working to an extend.

Regarding this, I was also super confused by this article: Burkina Faso's new president condemns imperialism, quotes Che Guevara, allies with Nicaragua, Venezuela, Cuba

It paints a very favorable picture of President Traoré (from a socialist, anti-imperialist viewpoint, really stuff that I find interesting and support, worth a read), but then:

On July 29, Traoré had a private meeting in Saint Petersburgh with Russian President Vladimir Putin. In their talks, the Burkinabè leader praised the Soviet Union for defeating Nazism in World War II.

Like, I cannot even imagine the awkwardness of that moment ... 🤦‍♂️

Maybe he just had no other friendly things to say, who knows, but it's also possible that he fails to understand that modern Russia is NOT the Soviet Union.

But yea, hoping for the best.