Africa Direct

Chocolate Revolution in Burkina Faso

For Chef André Bayala, making chocolate is about more than making sweets – it’s inventing a future for his country.

Chef André Bayala – a man who did not even know what chocolate was in his youth – was named Africa’s best chocolatier in 2016.

For Chef André, chocolate is both a passion and a revolution. His inspiration comes from Burkina Faso’s revolutionary leader Thomas Sankara, who once said, “Consume what you produce and produce what you consume.”

He runs his restaurants in Ouagadougou, making chocolate delicacies and pastries, with a determination that Africans should cultivate, enjoy and profit from its raw materials.

Michel K Zongo is cinematographer and director based in Burkina Faso. He has made three feature documentaries which won several awards, as well as an award-winning films for Africa Direct. He is the artistic director of the Koudougou Doc Festival and has been an Academy (“Oscars”) member since 2020.