Abdel Khalifa Diarra is the President of the Chambre of Gold and Precious Metal Counters of Burkina Faso, an association of gold and other precious substance marketing counters. He justifies the creation of this association before giving his appreciation of the contribution of the mining sector to the development of Burkina Faso.
Mines Actu Burkina: Introduce yourself to our readers
Abdel Khalifa Diarra: I am Abdel Khalifa Diarra, a lawyer and tax specialist specialising in taxation and mining legislation, President of the Chamber of Gold and Precious Metal Counters of Burkina Faso. I am also the promoter of a gold and other precious substances trading counter that I have been running for nearly five years.
What is your assessment of the contribution of the mining sector to the development of Burkina Faso?
Burkina Faso joined the circle of mining countries in 2012, with industrial gold mining at the top of the list. In 2021, gold production is estimated at around 66 tonnes with a contribution to the state budget of around 430.8 billion FCFA, according to the Ministry of Mines. Gold represents 81.4% of Burkina Faso’s exports.
In addition to the direct contribution of mining companies, there is also the contribution of providers and suppliers of various goods and services to the mining sector, which is not negligible and will normally increase significantly with the regulatory provisions on local content.
Nevertheless, the contribution of the mining sector to economic development is still below what it should be. Indeed, the statistics only take into account the contribution of the industrial mining sector, while the artisanal sector also produces a large quantity of gold, but because it is sold and exported through illegal channels, it does not contribute adequately to the socio-economic development of Burkina Faso. It is quite safe to say that, at a certain level, artisanal mining in Burkina Faso benefits a group of artisanal miners more than the Burkinabé state. And it is in this respect that we say that the contribution of the mining sector to the development of Burkina Faso can be considerably improved if the government focuses more on the mining artisanal sector, which is also a source of employment for the youth of Burkina Faso.
Why the creation of the Chamber of Gold and Precious Metal Counters of Burkina Faso?
The gold trade in Burkina Faso is governed by legislative and regulatory texts which organise this activity according to the following value chain: artisanal miner (owner of a hole or manager of a mining site commonly known as a gold digger), gold collector and gold buying and selling counter. In this value chain, the gold miner sells his gold production to the collector who then sells it to the counter.
In this scheme, only the counter, which is a commercial company, has the right to export the gold out of Burkina Faso. In addition to this, the counter is responsible for collecting the extraction fees from the gold miner which it pays to the state when the gold is exported.
The reorganisation of the gold trade in the world is more experienced by the counter than by the artisanal miners (repatriation of funds, traceability of the gold, etc.). It was therefore more than necessary for the counters to come together within an umbrella organisation in order to better organise the gold marketing sector.
The Chamber of Gold and Precious Metal Counters of Burkina Faso is the first and only association that brings together only counters. This allows them to better identify the challenges and difficulties of the sector and to propose solutions to the authorities in the framework of a win-win partnership. The Chamber of Gold and Precious Metal Counters of Burkina Faso also participates in raising awareness among the various actors on issues of economic patriotism, marketing fraud, the fight against terrorism and money laundering.
In short, a professional gold marketing sector at all levels is one of the objectives of the Chamber of Gold and Precious Metal Counters of Burkina Faso.
How many members does the Chamber of Gold and Precious Metal Counters of Burkina Faso have?
All counters marketing gold and other precious substances that have been approved for this purpose are in principle members of the Chamber of Gold and Precious Metal Counters of Burkina Faso. However, in order to become a member, the counter must apply for membership and, after examination, it is authorised to pay its membership fees and dues. To date, we have 47 members; some applications for activation of membership are under consideration, as it is necessary to carry out a certain number of verifications and minimal investigations before validating an application for activation of membership.
What are the difficulties and what is being done to overcome them?
The difficulties of the gold marketing sector are internal and external.
The internal difficulties are the low level of understanding among counter promoters of the issues at stake in the gold marketing sector, the fraud in gold marketing which prevents legal counters from operating and making profit margins, the lack of control over the purchase price of gold in the various sites and at national level. These internal difficulties have led us to initiate the “West Africa Gold Trading” seminar, which is a seminar on gold marketing scheduled to take place from 27 to 29 October 2022 at the Lancaster Hotel in Ouaga 2000, formerly Laïco.
The external difficulties are the lack of financing of gold marketing actors by banks in Burkina Faso and a sector regulation that has many shortcomings. With regard to the issue of access to financing, the West Africa Gold Trading seminar will enable the banks and financial institutions that will participate to understand the gold marketing cycle in order to be able to offer products adapted to the actors of this sector, which is a real engine of economic and social development in Burkina Faso.
With regard to regulatory shortcomings, some reforms are underway and we have been invited to present our amendments and observations on the draft reforms, which we are in the process of doing. We hope that at the end of these first reforms, several difficulties can be resolved. However, these reforms do not take into account all the texts that are sources of difficulties for those involved in the marketing of gold; but in view of the commitment of the Ministry of Mines to review the various texts, we have no doubt that in the months to come we will be invited to make amendments and modifications to other reform projects.
Do you have any final words?
The Chamber of Gold and Precious Metal Counters of Burkina Faso hopes that the contribution of the mining industry to the development of Burkina Faso will increase; we hope that the gold trade will be liberalised in Burkina Faso to allow any Burkinabe who so wishes to buy gold as a form of savings, because gold is a refused value and also a national asset. As much as it is possible to buy gold produced in Burkina Faso in Europe, it must also be possible for a Burkinabé to freely buy gold produced in Burkina Faso in accordance with the law. To date, only the National Agency for the Supervision of Artisanal and Semi-Mechanised Mining is authorised to sell gold to private individuals; we would like to be able to sell gold to private individuals as well, because ANEEMAS is a national counter and we are private counters; we therefore share the qualification of counter.
We also want the VAT on the sale of raw gold to be abolished because it is one of the causes of fraud in the marketing of gold and the development of the “black” market. We have expressed this to the authorities on several occasions, but it has remained a dead letter for several years now.
Finally, as one of the sectors most affected by the security crisis in our country, we pray that the authorities have the necessary strength to win this war, because without peace and security, there can be no economic and social development.
Interview réalisée par Elie KABORE
#Mines_Actu_Burkina
