I was gonna say going on the gold standard is an odd move with predictable downsides, but when the alternative is pegging your currency to the US dollar or the Euro, it makes a lot of sense.
Having a gold reserve means you're not exposed to a fluctuating foreign exchange rate or SWIFT sanctions cutting off your ability to borrow.
Niger can get away with it most of all because they have so much to mine. An expansionary gold supply solves the problem of growing your currency at the pace of your economy.
So it's not as bad idea on its face as it is in theory.
Traore was involved in Marxist and Pan-African groups, then was a captain in the military fighting western backed ISIS and jihadists. He upholds Sankara.
Everything he has done so far after seizing power has been decolonizing and pan-africanist and anti-imperialist. If communists don’t like that then they are being ultras