CASE STUDIES FROM AFRICA

Organisation of the Report
The present report provides African Union members and partners with:
An overview of the services sector in Burkina Faso
A description of the key elements of the cultural services sector in Burkina Faso
The economic impact of the cultural services sector
A condensed analysis of the main trends concerning the challenges to the sectors’
growth, their financial and support needs, and the main barriers to accessing funding
Examples of successful cultural projects or enterprises and factors underlying such
successes
Specific recommendations to policy makers, institutions, and private enterprises to
improve the private sector’s competitiveness in the supply of cultural services.
The Service Sector in Burkina Faso
Basic Data
The information on the contribution of the services sector was mostly extracted from both the
report from the Ministry of Economy and Finance on the economic and financial situation of
Burkina Faso in the third quarter of 2012 and the balance of payments of Burkina Faso for the
year 2010 (latest edition available).
Services Share in GDP
Burkina Faso is a landlocked West African country with a population of some 16 million. It
ranks 181st globally (out of 187 countries) on the UNDP’s Human Development Indicator for
2011 with a score of 0.388, well below the average for Sub-Saharan Africa (0.463). Currently,
Burkina Faso’s economy is mostly reliant on agricultural production, gold exports, and cotton.
The country still remains vulnerable to such exogenous shocks as low rainfall, international
financial and oil crises, and regional instability. During 2000–2009, economic growth was thus
very erratic because of climatic uncertainties and recurrent exogenous shocks. In real terms,
GDP growth averaged 5.2%, with a high of 8.7% in 2005.
According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, all sectors contributed positively to GDP
growth in 2012 with a composition of GDP by sectors 10 of 33% for agriculture, 22.2% for
industry, and 44.9% for services. The primary sector contributed 3.3 percentage points to GDP
growth and, the secondary sector 0.8 points. Following the recovery from the 2009 international
financial crisis, the tertiary sector has maintained its growth trend in 2012 (+6.0%), contributing
3.9 points to GDP growth, with an evolution of its value added for both the market (+5.5%) and
non-market sectors (+6.7%). The impact of non-profit activities such as official cultural events—
such as the Ouagadougou International Crafts Fair (SIAO) and the Ouagadougou International
10
As cited in the CIA World Factbook 2013.
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