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Burundi: Economic Outline

Economic Indicators

Despite the optimistic outlook of the African Development Bank, Burundi has experienced during the year 2011 a regain in political violence which has strongly penalized its economic growth which is currently around 4%. This growth is mainly drawn by the coffee exports and the construction sector. In addition, even though it is hardly exploited, the geographical position of Burundi provides it with a trade hub on the sub-region.

In the uncertain context of overcoming the crisis, which still exists, the priority is to preserve the macro-economic stability and to stimulate economic growth. The budget for 2012 reflects the government previous promise to follow a program of reforms concluded with the IMF which consists on concentrating the expenses in the agricultural field and infrastructure projects. A new agreement should be concluded at the beginning of 2012 in the terms of "Extended Credit Facility". The main challenge of Burundi is its political instability. Despite the end of the civil war which caused more than 300,00 deaths, the reactivity of a certain number of rebel groups shackles the economic improvement. These tensions, as well as the weakness of the judiciary and administrative systems, corruption, state interference in economic activities and a very strong dependence on international aid (42% of its GDP) are the inherent obstacles to the development of many countries in the African continent.

On the educational plan, 50% of the children attend school. In the health field, the situation is not better: one adult out of 15 is seropositive and medical supplies are insufficient. As a fact, the increase in oil and food prices, as well as the indirect consequences of the financial crisis, have worsened the situation in Burundi which should not improve in the next few years. Almost two-thirds of the population live under the threshold of poverty.

 

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Indicator of Economic Freedom

Score:

49.6/100

Position:

Controlled

World Rank:

143/179

Regional Rank:

32/45

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:

4/7

Civil Liberties:

5/7

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:

130/179

Evolution:

22 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

Allafrica.com , Burundi news
Burundi news (only in French)
Burundi online (only in French)
Burundi information

Useful Resources

Presidency website
National Bank

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Last Updates: May 2012