- Gold accounts for 77.4% of Burkina Faso’s exports in 2021
- It has contributed to a surplus in the trade balance
- Mineral fuels are the largest import product
Burkina Faso’s exports rose from 518.0 billion in 2020 to 2,806.1 billion in 2021. For the 2022 report on Burkina Faso’s trade balance and foreign trade from the Ministry of Trade, which provides this information, imports for the year 2021 were estimated at 2 612.5 billion FCFA compared to 2 405.4 billion FCFA in 2020. Thus, Burkina Faso’s trade balance showed a surplus of 193.6 billion FCFA due to the rise in commodity prices. The good performance of exports is based on gold.
Indeed, Burkina Faso’s export earnings are essentially made up of mining and agricultural products. Gold (2,171.956 billion FCFA) is by far the main export product, accounting for 77.4% of exports, followed by cotton (9.0%) and zinc (3.1%). The two mining products, gold and zinc, account for about 80.5% of export earnings. The other main export products are essentially oilseeds, notably cashew nuts (2.3%), sesame (1.2%) and shea kernels (0.8%).
Gold, the “first breath” of imports
In terms of volume, gold exports have increased by 7.5% to 67.4 thousand tonnes in 2021. As for cotton, exports will amount to 258.199 thousand tonnes in 2021 compared to 166,651.7 thousand tonnes in 2020, an increase of 54.9%. The quantities of crude zinc exported rose to 181,253.4 thousand tonnes, an increase of 7.8%. An increase of 48.3% in the quantities of cashew nuts exported was also observed.
The increase in gold revenues and volumes has had an impact on the overall volume of exports. For the year 2021, export revenues increased by 11.4%.
Burkina Faso’s trade has been impacted by both rising trade costs and the difficult security and humanitarian context, which have reduced the effects of trade stimulus policies and domestic productive capacity.
Gold destination, Europe
The mining sector is well placed in the lists of imported products. With 22.8% of imports in 2021, mineral fuels are the leading import product with an import expenditure of 595.934 billion FCFA, followed by pharmaceutical products (110.612 billion FCFA) and electrical energy (81.342.1 billion FCFA).
The analysis of export trends by continent shows that Burkina Faso’s exports to all continents in 2021 increased compared to 2020. Europe remained the leading destination in terms of exports, with a value of 2,115.2 billion FCFA, or 75.4% of the total value of exports. This large share is justified by gold exports to Europe. The shares of the other continents are 14.4% for Asia, 9.0% for Africa and 1.2% for America.
Elie KABORE
#Mines_Actu_Burkina
