Just two weeks ago, 34-year-old Ibrahim Traore was unknown, even in his native Burkina Faso, France 24 reports.
But in the space of a weekend, he catapulted himself from army captain to the world's youngest leader -- an ascent that has stoked hopes but also fears for a poor and chronically troubled country.
Traore, at the head of a core of disgruntled junior officers, ousted Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who had seized power just in January.
The motive for the latest coup -- as in January -- was anger at failures to stem a seven-year jihadist insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives and driven nearly two million people from their homes.
A few days after the September 30 coup, Traore was declared president and "guarantor of national independence, territorial integrity... and continuity of the State."
At that lofty moment, Traore became the world's youngest leader, wresting the title from Chilean President Gabriel Boric, a whole two years older.
And on Friday, a national forum made up of about 300 delegates named Traore interim president until elections are held in July 2024, two members of the ruling junta told AFP.
Traore's previously unknown face is now plastered on portraits around the capital Ouagadougou.
His photo is even on sale in the main market, alongside portraits of Burkina's revered radical leader Thomas Sankara, assassinated in 1987, and of Jesus.
