Home > Country profiles > Economic Outline

Burkina Faso: Economic Outline

Economic Indicators

Burkina Faso is a very poor country (it ranks 181 out of 187 in the index of human development).

With very little diversification, the economy of Burkina Faso is mainly based on its agriculture (the primary sector represents one-third of GDP). The activities are concentrated on some products: breeding, food production and cotton ( the country is the first producer of cotton among the African nations). The economic development of the country is weakened by many handicaps such as: its landlocked geographical location, the low level of its natural resources, its uncontrolled demographic growth, climate crises, lack of access to drinking water, general health care and education.

After having been affected by several crises: energy, cotton industry, food and financial industry, the GDP's growth dropped and it has been established at 4.9% in 2011. An average inflation is about 1.4% thanks to the heavy reductions in prices in the telecommunications sector and a good harvest season. The progressive production of gold should continue in 2012 in order to reach 42 tons (the country produced 32 tons in 2011).

In the framework of the agreement concluded under the IMF Extended Credit Facility, Burkina Faso has established a program of reforms aiming to preserve its macro-economic stability and to diversify its economy. The government has set up a plan called "Strategy for Accelerated Growth and Sustainable Development (SCADD)". This strategy will cover the period 2011-2015.

In mid-term, the main challenges of the country will be to stabilize its macro-economic situation, to modernize its methods of public affairs management, to readjust its public finance, to increase its expenses in profit of its basic infrastructures and the social sector, to reform the financial system and to improve the business climate.

Despite a slowdown of the economic growth, the perspectives for 2012 have been judged satisfactory by the IMF. Nevertheless, Burkina Faso is considered to be a country with a high risk of over-indebtedness. In addition, Burkina Faso is always very dependent on foreign aid: 52% of the state's investments are financed by foreign aid (either grants or loans).

 

Learn more about Market Analyses about Burkina Faso on Globaltrade.net, the Directory for International Trade Service Providers.

 

Indicator of Economic Freedom

Score:

60.6/100

Position:

Moderately free

World Rank:

80/179

Regional Rank:

9/45

Distribution of Economic freedom in the world
Source: 2011 Index of Economic freedom, Heritage Foundation

Note: The Economic freedom index measure ten components of economic freedom, grouped into four broad categories or pillars of economic freedom: Rule of Law (property rights, freedom from corruption); Limited Government (fiscal freedom, government spending); Regulatory Efficiency (business freedom, labor freedom, monetary freedom); and Open Markets (trade freedom, investment freedom, financial freedom). Each of the freedoms within these four broad categories is individually scored on a scale of 0 to 100. A country’s overall economic freedom score is a simple average of its scores on the 10 individual freedoms.

 

Country Risk

See the Country Risk Analysis Provided By Ducroire.

 

Indicator of Political Freedom

Ranking:

Partly Free

Political Freedom:

5/7

Civil Liberties:

3/7

Map of freedom 2010
Source: Freedom House

Note: The Indicator of Political Freedom provides an annual evaluation of the state of freedom in a country as experienced by individuals. The survey measures freedom according to two broad categories: political rights and civil liberties. The ratings process is based on a checklist of 10 political rights questions (on Electoral Process, Political Pluralism and Participation, Functioning of Government) and 15 civil liberties questions (on Freedom of Expression, Belief, Associational and Organizational Rights, Rule of Law, Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights). Scores are awarded to each of these questions on a scale of 0 to 4, where a score of 0 represents the smallest degree and 4 the greatest degree of rights or liberties present. The total score awarded to the political rights and civil liberties checklist determines the political rights and civil liberties rating. Each rating of 1 through 7, with 1 representing the highest and 7 the lowest level of freedom, corresponds to a range of total scores.

 

Indicator of Freedom of the Press

World Rank:

69/179

Evolution:

20 places down compared to 2010

Source: Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2011, Reporters Without Borders

Note: The world rankings, published annually, measures the violations of press freedom worldwide. It reflects the degree of freedom enjoyed by journalists, the media and digital citizens of each country and the means used by states to respect and uphold this freedom. Finally, a note and a position is assigned to each country. To compile this index, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) prepared a questionnaire sent to partner organizations,150 RWB correspondents, journalists, researchers, jurists and activists of human rights, including the main criteria - 44 in total - to assess the situation of press freedom in a given country. It includes every kind of direct attacks against journalists and digital citizens (murders, imprisonment, assault, threats, etc.) or against the media (censorship, confiscation, searches and harassment etc.).

Sources of General Economic Information

Main Online Newspapers and Portals

Burkina Faso news (only in french)
Einnews.com, Burkina Faso news
Allafrica.com, Burkina Faso news

Useful Resources

The national ministry of economy, finance
West Africa Central Bank

© Export Entreprises SA, All Rights Reserved.
Last Updates: May 2012