Burkina Faso

EITI Status Yet to be assessed against the 2016 Standard
EITI Member Since 2009
Latest Data From 2013
Website EITI Burkina Faso

Overview

The country is a leading producer of gold, as well as zinc since 2013. Yet social conflicts around the environmental impacts of mining operations, social expenditures and the redistribution of extractives revenues have been widespread. In addition to national EITI implementation, Burkina Faso also participated in the beneficial ownership pilot and undertook a study of CO2 emissions from its mining industry.

Burkina Faso: Sitting on a gold mine
Burkina Faso injects EITI therapy into its mining sector
Burkina Faso’s EITI Report raises questions about bidding process under former regime

News, blogs and more

Tax and legal framework

The three main taxes and fees imposed on companies operating in the mining sector include customs duties, corporate income tax and royalties. The Customs Department and the Tax Department are the main bodies responsible for collecting taxes and fees paid to the central government, while the Directorate of Treasury and Public Accounting is the main body responsible for managing these revenues. Local governments are responsible for levying local fees like the ‘patente’.

Three model mining conventions (research, production and artisanal and small-scale) are publicly available. All mining contracts are concluded by Ministerial Decree and are published in the Journal Officiel du Faso.

Ministry of Mines and Energy, The mining sector in Burkina Faso
World Gold Council, The social and economic impacts of gold mining
International Institute for Environment and Development
Ministère des Mines et de l’Energie (2013), Politique sectorielle des mines 2014-2025
US State Department, Burkina Faso Investment Climate Report 2014
Millennium Challenge Corp, Burkina Faso Fiscal 2016 ranking

Beneficial ownership disclosure

Burkina Faso's EITI Reports have so far disclosed legal owners of mining companies, including country of incorporation, percentage participation and the name of stock exchange for listed companies. Burkina Faso has compiled a beneficial ownership scoping study which suggests a definition of beneficial ownership, provides an overview of the legal and regulatory framework, and outlines existing reporting obligations for politically exposed persons.

Burkina Faso’s evaluation report from the beneficial ownership pilot highlights incompleteness of the company declarations as the major challenge, both in terms of declarations submitted through the EITI reporting process as well as incompleteness of declarations upon company registration in the country. The evaluation report provides some suggestions for supporting documents that could be requested from the companies in the future to help verify the identity of the beneficial owners, such as company registration, proof of residence, etc. 

In conditions of total opacity, we cannot continue to expect that the mining sector, a pillar of our economy, can really benefit all Burkinabe citizens. We are going to look very closely to determine if contracts need to be reviewed, cancel some licenses or concessions and redistribute them in transparent conditions.
HE Yacouba Isaac Zida, Prime Minister

Production

Burkina Faso is a leading producer of gold (Africa’s fourth-largest), but has also started producing zinc since 2013. Ongoing development of gold in the country’s centre, while development of manganese and zinc is taking place in the North and West respectively. While industrial gold mining has grown rapidly since the first mine opening in 2005, the more than one million artisanal miners account for a significant share of production. Despite the lack of reliable statistics on artisanal mining, the 2013 EITI Report cites estimates of up to 8 million metric tons smuggled out of the country annually.   

Ministry of Mines and Energy (2014), Mining sector of Burkina Faso and beyond, investment opportunities in 2014
Université de Rouen (2012), L’orpaillage face à l’arrivée des industries minières aurifères : cas du Burkina Faso
Roskill and Africa Mining Reports (2015), The mining sector after the coup: challenges and opportunities facing the government

Initializing chart.

Natural resources

Burkina Faso has rich deposits of gold, zinc, copper, manganese as well as iron, nickel, limestone, dolomite and phosphates. Abundant mineral resources are found along an arc from the country’s southeast to northwest. Gold reserves have grown rapidly in the past decade, with over 15 major discoveries since 2006.

CommodityReservesUnitSignificance
Gold154.2metric tons
Zinc6million metric tonsThe Perkoa zinc mine holds some of the largest zinc deposits in Africa. 14.5% Zn.
Copper 70million metric tons0,35% to 0,25% Cu.
Manganese19million metric tons45% to 55% Mn.
Iron, titanium and vanadium66million metric tons35% Fe2O3 with 35000 tons of V205 at 0,7%.
Nickel30million metric tons1,2% to 1,5% Nickel and 0,05% Cobalt.
Bauxite12.7million metric tons
Limestone93.1million metric tons45% to 55% CaCO3.
Dolomite20.7million metric tons
Phosphates131.2million metric tons20% P205.
Antimony700metric tons
Graphite9000metric tons
Marble100,000metric tons
Section 3.2.9 “Mining potential and reserves” in 2013 EITI Report, USGS Burkina Faso Minerals Yearbook 2013

Revenue collection

The latest EITI disclosures (2013) show that Burkina Faso received USD 407 million from extractive industry taxation. All of these revenues came from gold and were mainly collected through customs duties (30%), corporate income tax (28%) and royalties (16%). While there is no provision for signature bonuses or production premiums in the Mining Law, they are levied in practice.

IMF (2016), Technical assistance report, mining taxation: modelling of five mining operations
KPMG (2013), Analyse du partage des benefices des activités aurifères au Burkina Faso
Groupe de Recherche et d’Information sur la Paix et la Sécurité (2015), Nouveau code minier au Burkina : de l’or au benefice de

Initializing chart.

Revenue allocation

Regional and municipal government receive only companies’ social expenditures and subnational transfers from the environmental intervention fund. All other revenues are centrally managed by the state.

Further information

International Budget Partnership, Open Budget Survey 2015 Burkina Faso
World Bank (2016), The Burkina Faso budget: user’s manual to the Burkina Faso expenditure database
Gold exploitation and income disparities : the case of Burkina Faso (2015)
IMF (2015), Burkina Faso Letter of Intent
Gouvernement du Burkina Faso, Loi des Finances 2016

Innovations

​The EITI encourages multi-stakeholder groups to explore innovative approaches to make the EITI more relevant and useful.

  • Burkina Faso participated in the beneficial ownership pilot and the 2012 and 2013 EITI Reports contained some beneficial ownership details (alongside legal ownership information).
  • The 2013 EITI Report discloses both mandatory and voluntary social expenditure, split between cash and in-kind payments. It also includes details of non-governmental beneficiaries.
  • Burkina Faso EITI is supporting the World Bank in its study of women in the industrial mining sector and further means of support from companies.
  • Burkina Faso is undertaking a study on CO2 emissions in its mining sector, including possible reduction and mitigation measures. Piloted by the EITI Secretariat in Ouagadougou, the study is supported by France and is part of Burkina Faso’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC), submitted to the 21st COP in Paris in December 2015.  

Implementation

BF-EITI has updated its workplan, including 15 progress indicators to better document impact. It is also studying the feasibility of including artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) and subnational reporting in its EITI implementation. It will be engaging with the Higher Supervisory Council to develop a three-year beneficial ownership roadmap.

Governance

The government issued Presidential Decrees 2008-810/Pres/PM/MEF/MCE and 2008-811/Pres/PM/MEF/MCE on 17 December 2008, establishing a two-tier structure for EITI implementation: the decrees establish the Supervisory Committee (Comité de Supervision) and the Steering Committee (Comité de Pilotage) respectively. The mandates of the Supervisory Committee and Steering Committee were renewed through Decrees 2009-90/MEF/SG/SP-ITIE and 2009-91/MEF/SG/SP-ITIE on 5 March 2009. Two decrees to enlarge both the Supervisory Committee and the Steering Committee were subsequently approved by the Council of Ministers on 14 July 2009.

Timeline

Validation

Burkina Faso's Validation against the Standard will commence on 1 April 2017. The country is compliant under the 2011 Rules.

EITI Reports and other key documents

Burkina Faso 2014 EITI Report

Published Date: 
December, 2016
Publisher: 
Burkina Faso EITI

Burkina Faso's 2014 EITI Report covers extractive activities in the country for that fiscal year.

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Burkina Faso 2016-2018 workplan

Published Date: 
July, 2016
Publisher: 
Burkina Faso EITI

Burkina Faso published its 2016-2018 EITI workplan which was approved by its tri-partite multi-stakeholder group on 28 June 2016. This document serves as a road map for the execution of activities aimed at consolidating transparency in the extractive industries.

Its main objectives include ensuring the effective functioning of the multi-stakeholder group, publication of mining contracts on the website, improving the quality of EITI reporting and preparation for the country's Validation.

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2013 Burkina Faso EITI Report

Published Date: 
March, 2016
Publisher: 
Burkina Faso EITI

This EITI Report covers Burkina Faso's extractive sector in 2013. It was published in March 2016. 

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View all documents related to Burkina Faso in our publications library

Contacts

National Secretariat

Alice Zida Thiombiano

National coordinator EITI Burkina Faso

The EITI National Coordinator (Secrétaire Permanent) for Burkina Faso, Madame Alice Zida Thiombiano is financial services administrator and has twenty-two years of experience in the public administration sector.

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International Secretariat

Gisela Granado EITI

Gisela Granado

gisela.granado
Country Manager
ggranado@eiti.org

EITI responsibilities: Support EITI implementing countries

Gisela joined the team at the EITI International Secretariat in May 2014. Having worked at the Trinidad and Tobago EITI National Secretariat over the last two years,

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Bady Balde EITI

Bady Balde

mamadou60
Regional Director Francophone Africa
bbalde@eiti.org

EITI responsibilities: ​Geographic: Francophone Africa. Thematic: state-owned enterprises (SOE) and oil sales, artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) and mineral smuggling, supreme audit institutions (SAIs)

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