Burkina stops Gates Foundation's anti-malaria campaign

ABIDJAN - Burkina Faso on Friday halted a project backed by US billionaire Bill Gates that had seen genetically modified mosquitoes released in a bid to eradicate malaria and other insect-borne diseases.

Target Malaria, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is the latest NGO to come under pressure from the country's military rulers. It was ordered to stop "all activities", the government said in a communique.

Burkina Faso has been ruled for nearly three years by a military administration led by Captain Ibrahim Traore, who seized power following a coup in September 2022.

In June and July, the government revoked the operating licenses of 21 international NGOs, or those receiving international funding.

Target Malaria, involving a consortium of more than 150 African and Western researchers, has released genetically modified mosquitoes in an effort to eradicate malaria that it says kills more than 500,000 people a year across Africa.

The first release took place in 2019 in Burkina Faso, with another release this month. But the project has been criticized by some civil society groups and targeted by disinformation campaigns on social media sites linked to the government.