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BEST ANALYSIS – BURKINA FASO
Prepared by Fintrac Inc.
2. COUNTRY BACKGROUND & OVERVIEW
2.1 ECONOMIC OVERVIEW
One of the poorest countries in the world, the World Bank reports that Burkina Faso’s per capita
gross domestic product (GDP) is $458. The 2008 UN Human Development Index reports that
more than 70 percent of the population lives on less than $2 a day, a percentage that puts it
rd
173 out of the 179 listed.
Burkina Faso’s population, which is estimated at just more than 14 million, is predominantly
rural and has 3.46 percent annual growth rate (Recensement Général de la Population et de
l'Habitation (RGPH), 2006). Ouagadougou, the capital and largest city, is home to about 1
million. Other major cities include the important economic center of Bobo-Dioulasso
(approximately 500,000) and Koudougou (approximately 100,000). Administratively, Burkina
Faso is divided into 13 regions, 45 provinces, and 350 departments.
Many Burkinabé migrate to neighboring countries (e.g. Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana) for seasonal
work in agriculture and their remittances are second only to cotton in terms of foreign exchange
earnings. Despite the importance of remittances, it is not a significant source of household
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income.
The World Bank's 2009 “Doing Business” ranked Burkina Faso as one of the top ten reformers
for 2009. These reforms include adopting a labor code in May 2008, improving the process of
transferring property, eliminating commune authorization requirements, creating a one-stop
shop to facilitate construction permits, decreasing the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 30
percent, and decreasing dividend taxes from 15 percent to 12 percent. In 2008, the Government
of Burkina Faso (GOBF) also entered into a $480 million compact with the Millennium Challenge
Corporation (MCC), which should further rural governance reform. According to the International
Monetary Fund (IMF), Burkina Faso’s gross domestic product increased by 5 percent in 2008,
despite global food price spikes and recession.
See Annex 1 for more economic data and trends.
2.2 AGRICULTURE OVERVIEW
The country is characterized by five socio-ecological regions: The Sahel, the East, the Centre,
the West and the South-West (See Annex 4). Naturally, these characteristics affect the country's
economy, which is dominated by the agriculture sector and the related informal sector.
1 Direction Générale de la Promotion de l’Economie Rurale (DGPER) National Food Security Report 2007; see
Annex 5 for further details.
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