The World Bank in Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso is a low-income Sahelian country with limited natural resources. Its economy is largely based on agriculture, although gold exports are on the rise. More than 40% of the population lives below the poverty line. Burkina Faso ranks 144^th among 157 countries in the World Bank’s Human Capital Index.

Political Context

Following the coup d’état of January 24, 2022, that ousted President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, Lieutenant Colonel Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba, the leader of the Patriotic Movement for Preservation and Restoration (MPSR), was sworn in as president on March 2, 2022, for a period of three years. Under the Transition Charter adopted by a national conference, Damiba will not be eligible to run in the next presidential elections.

The transitional bodies are the Transition Policy and Monitoring Council (conseil d’orientation et de suivi de la transition), the transitional government that comprises 25 ministers and includes a civilian prime minister, and a 71-member transitional legislative assembly.

In the wake of the coup, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union have suspended Burkina Faso from their decision-making bodies until constitutional order is restored.

Since 2015, the country has been the target of terrorist attacks that have resulted in population displacements. There were 50,000 internally displaced persons in the country in January 2019. By January 2022, more than 3,000 schools (13% of educational institutions) were closed because of the insecure environment.

Economic Overview

The economy rebounded strongly in 2021, with growth estimated at 8.5%. This solid performance is attributable to factors such as the recovery in services (+11.7%) and the steady increase in gold exports. However, agricultural production stagnated because of low rainfall.  

While exports grew by 6.5% in 2021, imports of hydrocarbons and mining equipment increased by 15.5% and were largely responsible for widening the current account deficit, estimated at 3.0% of GDP. Measures to combat the pandemic and security-related spending helped maintain the fiscal deficit at 5.5% of GDP. This deficit, which could widen further this year to 6.6%, increased public debt to 47.4% in 2021.   

In addition, strong growth and global supply problems drove inflation to a 10-year high of 3.9% in 2021. This rate is expected to worsen in the first half of 2022, owing to rising food prices in particular, before stabilizing at around 4% toward the end of the year.

As a result of the pandemic, inflation turned positive again in 2020 (3.2% compared to -3.2% in 2019). Solid growth in 2021, coupled with severe pressure on global supply chains, increased inflationary pressures (3.9% in 2021, a 10-year high). The hike in food prices was particularly notable (14.7%) and revealed food insecurity.

The fiscal deficit remained high at 5.5% of GDP in 2021 (compared to 5.7% in 2020), chiefly as a result of expenses related to COVID-19 and ever-increasing security costs.  

Medium-Term Outlook 

The return to pre-COVID growth levels is expected to continue in 2022, as the economy is forecast to grow at a rate of 4.8%. Against the backdrop of insecurity, the January 2022 coup, and the war in Ukraine, growth is expected to be driven by the agricultural sector, services—including public administration—and gold exports, and reach its potential of about 5.3% in the medium term.

Driven by an even greater increase in food prices, inflation could worsen in the first half of 2022, before stabilizing at an annual average of around 4% toward the end of the year.

In light of the security, humanitarian, food, and social challenges and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the fiscal deficit could reach 6.6% of GDP in 2022. Its gradual return to the WAEMU ceiling of 3% is not expected before 2025.  

Last Updated: Apr 13, 2022

The World Bank Group’s work in Burkina Faso is guided by a Country Partnership Framework, an engagement strategy that is prepared every five years. This strategy, which is aligned with the objectives of the government’s National Economic and Social Development Plan (PNDES), is currently being revised to bring it in line with the country’s changing context and with the priorities of the transition process and the revised National Development Plan. The strategy will include the following priority areas:   

• Strengthen resilience and social cohesion
• Strengthen sustainable development, human capital, and cooperation
• Boost potential growth sectors and job creation
• Improve governance and citizen engagement.  

On March 16, 2022, the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank Group that provides assistance to the poorest nations in the world, was financing about 30 programs in Burkina Faso, 20 of which are national projects and 10, regional, representing a total commitment of $3.18 billion, as well as 11 trust funds totaling $103.79 million. 

IDA is mobilizing finance windows designed to address fragility in order to provide additional concessional resources to Burkina Faso.  This is how the Burkina Faso Emergency Local Development and Resilience Project valued at $ 350 million and the Support to Land and Mining Management Strengthening Project in the amount of $150 million were approved to help the government address the drivers of fragility and build resilience.  The World Bank has also provided financing for budget support to address the health and security crisis ($100 million) and for a COVID-19 response project known as PPR COVID ($21 million).

IFC 

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector development arm of the World Bank Group, works to improve the country’s investment climate, facilitate access to financing for small and medium enterprises, and contribute to the development of the agri-food, energy, finance, infrastructure, education, and health sectors. IFC has increased its commitments over the past decade to a total of $850 million. 

Last Updated: Apr 13, 2022

Energy

The Electricity Sector Support Project (PASEL) has:

• Constructed the 7.5 MW Fada N’Gourma thermal power plant in the eastern part of the country
• Electrified 40 communities and 90 villages
• Installed 851 kilometers of low-voltage lines and 463 kilometers of medium-voltage lines
• Deployed 25,000 solar lamps in 400 schools.

Water and Sanitation

Since its inception in 2019, the Water Supply and Sanitation Program has achieved the following results:

• Access to drinking water sources has been provided for more than 515,000 persons
• Access to improved sanitation facilities has been provided for over 230,000 persons
• Under the capacity-building component, there are more than 1,300 short-term training beneficiaries and 62 graduates (from senior technicians to design engineers).

Agriculture

As a result of the Burkina Faso Livestock Sector Development Support Project (PADEL B):

• 262,359 herders benefited from agricultural goods and services in livestock value chains
• 1,653 livestock microprojects launched by young people and women were financed
• Access to financing from banks and microfinance institutions was provided to 263 livestock companies, women, and 152 companies headed by young people.

Human Capital

The mobile childcare program serves 1,000 children in 21 communes. These mobile childcare units are located near public construction sites where many mothers work. These simple and inexpensive structures allow women to have a job and contribute to the development and health of their children.

The Burkin-Naong-Saya (end poverty in Burkina Faso) Social Safety Net project has been targeting the most vulnerable households for the past six years and aims to establish a social protection system:

• It is expected to eventually benefit more than 100,000 persons, the vast majority of whom are poor women (95% of beneficiaries) who receive, for example, cash transfers and parental education on breastfeeding
• As a result of the pandemic, 43,000 new beneficiaries have received financial assistance
• In October 2019, the World Bank approved additional financing of close to $100 million for the Social Safety Net project.
  

Education

Initial financing of the Project to Improve Access to Quality Education (PAAQE) was used to:

• Build 327 classrooms in 45 lower and upper secondary schools thereby providing access to secondary education (post-primary and secondary) for approximately 20,595 students, 49% of whom were girls
• Provide grants (CFAF 100,000 per year) to 1,000 selected students, primarily girls from poor households, throughout their secondary education. 

The program to build high schools for the teaching of science should allow for the construction of one science high school in  13 regions:

• The initiative gives equal opportunities to girls and boys, as well as to adolescents from rural and urban areas
• Two national science high schools have accommodated 274 students
• The 65 students who sat the baccalaureate examinations in 2020 were all successful.

Under the Higher Education Support Project:

• 7,959 students, 36.7% of whom were women, enrolled in undergraduate studies in the priority areas financed by the project
• 10 higher education and research institutions are receiving competitive funds totaling CFAF 11.5 billion.    

Last Updated: Apr 13, 2022

The World Bank Group works closely with the other development partners operating in Burkina Faso, including the European Union, Agence Française de Développement, agencies in the United Nations System, and bilateral partners.

In July 2017, Germany, the African Development Bank, the World Bank, France, the European Union, and the United Nations Development Programme launched the Sahel Alliance with the aim of providing a coordinated and tailored response to the challenges faced by the G5 Sahel member countries (Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger). Since then, Denmark, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom have joined the Alliance. 

Last Updated: Apr 13, 2022