Burkina Faso has officially opened a new military institute to train its armed forces’ elite.
On Tuesday, September 16, 2025, Prime Minister Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo launched the Tiefo Amoro Institute of Higher Military Education (IEMS-TA), a facility designed to develop officers capable of anticipating modern threats and strengthening the nation’s military autonomy.
The IEMS-TA is a significant step toward domesticating Burkina Faso’s military education. Its mission is to provide advanced military training at both the first and second levels and to help develop doctrines tailored to the country’s specific security challenges. The institute’s motto, “Thinking about war, preparing for peace,” reflects its core goal: to equip officers with the strategic foresight to defend the nation against terrorism.
According to Prime Minister Ouedraogo, the institution was created to learn from the country’s current security challenges and prepare for its future defense needs. The institute will include a War College and a Staff College to provide comprehensive training.
The institute is named after Tiefo Amoro, a 19th-century king and warrior renowned for his resistance against colonial forces. The name choice is a deliberate statement of national pride and a commitment to endogenous solutions for the country’s security problems. “By establishing this institute as an extension of his legacy,” the Prime Minister stated, “we remind each generation that the defense of the Motherland is a sacred duty.”
The IEMS-TA’s commander, Colonel-Major Celeste Joseph Moussa Coulibaly, described the institute as “a crucible of strategic military thought, a laboratory of innovation, and a bastion of our security and defense sovereignty.”
In the future, the institute will also extend its programs to paramilitary officers, public administration officials, and trainees from the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) and other partner countries. This move demonstrates Burkina Faso’s desire to assert its regional leadership and consolidate its sovereignty in defense and security matters.
HO/ac/Sf/fss/abj/APA