Burkina Faso junta pushes self-sufficiency as costs rise

Burkina Faso's military government is promoting economic self-sufficiency through local production, domestic financing and tighter control over raw materials, while residents say prices remain high despite official controls.

Junta leader Ibrahim Traore has regularly appeared at project launches, factory openings and foundation-stone ceremonies. The government has promoted textiles, arms manufacturing, agriculture and processing of raw materials, and plans a motorway linking Ouagadougou with Bobo Dioulasso.

Economist Abdoul Kader Ouedraogo told AFP that Burkina Faso's state revenue had risen from 2,600 billion CFA francs in 2023, or about $4.5 billion, to 3,700 billion CFA francs in 2026. He said about 90 percent of revenue comes from taxes and that the deficit had fallen from 4.6 percent to 2.6 percent of GDP.

Official figures said cereal production reached 7.2 million tonnes in 2025, equal to 126 percent of national needs, while industry’s share of GDP rose from 24 percent to 32.9 percent. Burkina Faso also extracted more than 94 tonnes of gold in 2025 and opened a major gold refinery in Ouagadougou in late September.

The government has framed the programme as a sovereignty drive, drawing on the legacy of former leader Thomas Sankara. Burkina Faso still receives loans from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank for some projects.

Residents quoted by AFP said market prices remain above official levels. One Ouagadougou resident said cement cost about 10 percent more than the official price and that rice had risen by 20 percent in recent months. A former MP said shortages in some areas were pushing up prices for goods including sugar, eggs and fish.

The authorities also say a Patriotic Support Fund, financed by donations, salary deductions and levies on consumer goods and mobile services, has raised about $850 million over three years to help fund the fight against jihadists.