Economy

With a per capita GNP of $240 in 1998, Burkina Faso is the third poorest country in the world. The government is committed to restructuring under its Structural Adjustment Program (SAP).

The economy is over reliant on primary products with 90% of exports being agricultural. This means the economy is dependent on climatic factors and market fluctuations. 59%of exports are to other developing countries mainly Asia. 48% of imports are from Europe. Cotton is the main cash crop making up 40% of the money from exports. The primary sector accounts for 40% of GDP, the secondary sector is slowly expanding and makes up 17%, tertiary industry employs only 5% of the workforce but contributes 43% of GDP. Money also comes in from migrant workers on plantations in Ghana and Ivory Coast.

The employment structure reflects this dependence, 93% of the workforce are employed in primary industry (farming, mining, forestry and fishing), 2% in secondary (manufacturing) and 5% in tertiary (services).

The informal sector makes up 30% of the GDP, 11% of people in towns work in the informal sector which contributes a lot to the nations wealth but is not taxed

The country depends on foreign aid that makes up 88% of all investment in the country; in 1997 they received $370 million down 11% from 1996. The large number or NGO's working in the country causes organizational problems. In 1997 $115 million of debt was cancelled but the outstanding $740 billion FCFA is 60% of the country's GDP.

Government spending as % GDP:

Resources:
8 million goats
6 million sheep
4.5 million cattle
8,000 tonnes fish
No oil
78,000kw electricity
Gold, antimony, marble, manganese, silver and zinc deposits

Economic indicators:
Number of commodity per 1000 people
Cars 4/1000
Phones 3/1000
Radios 28/1000
TV's 6/1000
Newspapers 1/1000
Daily calorie intake 2,137 Kilo Calories

GNP $250 per capita
World GNP ranking 130th
Human Development Index 171/174
Tourism 138,000 visitors in 1998

Transport:
In a landlocked country transport networks to the coast are vital.

Of the 21,000 km road in the country, only a third is surfaced the rest is dirt track, which can be impassable in the rainy season.

Road freight carries cement and building materials, hydrocarbons and cash crops of cotton and groundnuts to Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso for rail transfer to the port of Abidjan in the Ivory Coast. There are 622 km of single-track railway line. Sitarail, a private-public consortium runs the trains from the capital to Abidjan three times a week carrying goods, ore and passengers.

The bus arrives in Piela

Public road transport is limited; of the 51,800 vehicles in the country in 1998 only 5% were for public transport. Private car ownership is very low with 4 cars per 1000 people. All vehicles in Burkina have to be imported and cost about the same as equivalent ones in the UK.

Fuel also has to be imported.

Motorbikes and mopeds are popular but again
are imported and expensive as are bicycles.

They drive on the right.

There are two international airports at Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso, which carried 190.000 passengers and 7000 tonnes freight and 16,000 passengers and 85 tonnes of freight respectively in 1997. There are flights to Paris nine times a week, Algiers once a week and Moscow twice a week plus flights to Togo, Mali, Benin Niger and Ivory Coast.

Telecommunications are growing with 45 centres but the mobile phone network is limited to Ougadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso.

The IT and Business Centre at Bilanga.

Energy
Electricity generation is low from the thermal power stations that use imported hydrocarbons (oil, coal etc.) brought in through West African ports and are therefore very expensive. HEP stations at Kompienga and Bagre add to this and the Diebougou dam on the Bougouriba River is under construction. Solar power is being developed in 150 centres but despite all this only 8% of the country is electrified. Little use is made of wind power. All Burkinabe, whether they live in the countryside or the towns use the same type of energy to cook their food: wood.

Industry
The secondary sector contributes 17% to the GDP from 60 companies producing food, agricultural products, textiles and leather, mechanics, chemicals and construction.

All industry is hindered by the limited domestic market, overpriced imports and export taxes due to the landlocked position, high-energy costs and red tape.

There are two main industrial areas Bobo-Dioulassa and Ougadougou; Bobo-Dioulasso, where 30% of companies are based is in the heart of a rich agricultural region has had a rail link to the capital and the coast since 1933. Food and agricultural products, cotton ginning and brewing beer dominate industry. Engineering and a chemical industry based around the Citec oil refinery is developing. Ouagadougou has had a rail link since 1950 and 64% of all companies are based here covering the full range of industry. The remaining 6% of companies are in Koudougou (textiles for the local market) and in Banfora (a sugar cane area) where Sosuco, a large sugar refinery is located, with an annual turnover of £1,000,000 and employing 1500 in the factory plus 2000 farm workers.

Local entrepreneurs have established small-scale industries and use appropriate technology; examples of these can be seen in the photos. These industries provide the sole, or more, usually an additional income to local people who still farm to provide for their families.

These two photos are of a soap making 'cottage industry', locally grown
shea butter is used and the finished soap sold in the local market.

Small scale mills are another example of a cottage industry,

as is boat building.

Mining the various resources is not fully exploited due to poor access and a lack of investment. Marble, phosphates, gold, zinc and manganese are mined and represent 5% of the GDP.

Gold is the third most important export after cotton and cattle. Again the landlocked position, high export charges and poor infrastructure hinder development of mining.

The Evolution of Gold Production in Grammes
(Jeune Africue Atlases, burkina faso, 1998)