Burkina Faso medical student Alfred Nikiema lit up as he read an email from his university allowing him to resume visa paperwork for training at a French hospital next year - a move that has been in limbo since France suspended consular services in his country.
Nikiema is among several students, researchers and artists with upcoming trips to France but are uncertain about receiving their visas resulting from deteriorating relations between Paris and Bamako.
The Burkinabe student said he settled for doing an internship at a local hospital after giving up his dream of spending a year in France for his mandatory psychiatry specialization.
"Being able to go to another country and have different experience is enriching," Nikiema said.
International law student Tondri Yara stood in front of a French visa centre in the capital Ouagadougou, hoping for some good news.
The 28-year-old had been preparing his exchange programme at a university campus in France since October 2022.
"At the last minute you can't get a visa. It takes a lot of energy to change plans," Yara said.
Yara has other options for his thesis, which he was meant to do in France.
Burkina Faso, Canada, Switzerland and Belgium are all viable alternatives, he said, although switching will likely delay the process.
Professionals from Mali and Niger are also uncertain.
Relations between France, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger deteriorated over the past three years, resulting from military coups in the West African nations.
The juntas seized power and turned against their former colonial power , France by kicking out its troops and ambassadors amid growing anti-French sentiment.
French critics argue Paris sought to maintain excessive economic and political influence decades after the former colonies gained independence.
France says it has moved away from this dynamic.
As relations with some of the West African states turned bitter - prompting France to close its consular services in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger due to security concerns -long-standing cultural ties have also been strained.
The visa issue and the suspension of French development aid and cooperation with the three countries comes as President Emmanuel Macron seeks to reset ties with its former colonies in Africa — developments happening while China and Russia gain influence on the continent.
A French diplomatic source said France last year issued 907 student and trainee visas to Burkinabe nations.
689 Malians and 436 Nigeriens that sought to study or intern in France also received visas, the diplomatic source added.
French authorities have assured that students, artists and researchers already in France remain welcome and would be allowed to pursue their activities.
There were over 3,100 students from Mali, 2,300 from Burkina Faso and 1,100 from Niger studying in French public institutions in 2021-22, according to data from French agency Campus France that promotes French higher institutions abroad.
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