In a statement published on Friday, officials urged Target Malaria, the initiative's principal NGO, to halt "all activities" in the nation
“All samples will be destroyed according to a strict protocol,” Samuel Pare, chief official at the higher education and research ministry, said in a Friday statement.
The move is part of a larger crackdown on foreign-backed NGOs functioning under the present junta.
The research, which began in Burkina Faso in 2019, released its first swarm of genetically modified male mosquitoes in the hamlet of Bana, a tiny settlement of around 1,000 people in the country's west.
These mosquitoes were developed to limit the reproductive rate of malaria-carrying female mosquitoes, with the long-term objective of reducing the transmission of the illness that kills hundreds of thousands of people each year in Africa.
Since its first release, the program has expanded its study to other locations, most recently unleashing new batches of mutated mosquitoes only days before the government's abrupt order to suspend operations.
As reported by Bloomberg, campaigns in Africa accuse Target Malaria researchers of worsening the spread.
The suspension reflects broader tensions between Burkina Faso’s military-led government and Western-backed NGOs.
Since seizing power in 2022, Captain Ibrahim Traoré’s administration has increasingly sought to limit foreign involvement in domestic policy, particularly projects tied to high-profile Western philanthropists such as Bill Gates.
Officials argue that Burkina Faso needs “locally developed, safer alternatives” rather than experimental technologies imposed from abroad. The suspension also aligns with the military government’s populist agenda, which often casts Western-funded initiatives as undermining sovereignty.
With Friday’s announcement, all activities linked to Target Malaria have been formally shut down in Burkina Faso. The research consortium says it will continue to cooperate with authorities but has reiterated that its work complied with national laws and international biosafety standards.
The decision marks a significant setback for genetic approaches to malaria eradication, raising broader questions about how far Africa is willing to embrace radical biotechnology in the fight against its deadliest disease.
For now, Burkina Faso has made its stance clear: Bill Gates’ vision of genetically engineered mosquitoes will not be taking flight on its soil.
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