New Burkinabe PM seeks to address terrorism, high cost of living

The newly appointed Burkinabe Prime Minister Lassina Zerbo has outlined some of the issues he intends to solve in the country just after the selection of various ministerial dockets.

Lassina said Burkina Faso now needs to face the reality by solving issues like terrorism that have been the main concern for the West African country.

"It is not a question of presenting the problems but of providing solutions: what can be done to address this security issue? We will immediately discuss with the two ministers to see what concrete proposals are on the table to meet the needs of our military, gendarmerie, and paramilitary personnel who are on the ground," said Lassina Zerbo, the Prime Minister of Burkina Faso.

The new Prime Minister further reiterated the need to tackle and reduce the cost of living in a country where unemployment has been a major challenge for years.

"We will try to reduce the cost of living of the State and to get closer to the population without making the State suffer, so sponsorships... I don't know what they are called... We will try to reduce this as much as possible so that the ministers can devote themselves to their work. We are not saying not to go to the field, the ministers will go to the field but on essential issues and issues that concern their departments," the new PM said.

Lassina is relatively unknown to most Burkinabes but has gained some recognition abroad for his efforts towards banning nuclear explosive testing.