Burkina Faso has just taken a new step in its strategy to add value to its mineral resources. The country has inaugurated its first gold refinery in Ouagadougou, an initiative presented by the authorities as a means of strengthening national control over one of the country’s main resources.
During the inauguration of the facility, President Ibrahim Traoré said that Burkina Faso now intends to go beyond exporting raw materials and develop the various stages of their processing locally.
"We want to refine all our metals locally… we want to have the entire value chain locally,” he said on Monday.
With this new infrastructure, the Burkinabè authorities aim to retain more added value in the country and reduce its dependence on processing facilities located abroad.
Burkina Faso is one of Africa’s major gold producers. However, the sector continues to face several challenges, including the rise of informal mining and insecurity linked to jihadist violence, which affects part of the country.
For the government, the refinery therefore represents an additional tool to better regulate the gold sector and increase the economic benefits generated by this strategic resource.
In the long term, Ouagadougou also aims to make Burkina Faso a regional gold refining hub by focusing on increased processing of mineral resources directly on the continent.