At a meeting of the Council of Ministers on 6 October 2023, the Burkina Faso government adopted a decree setting job quotas and job nomenclature in the mining sector. The decree, which was signed on 6 October 2023, is designed to better regulate the sector, and failure to comply with its provisions will result in the payment of fines.
What does the decree contain?
Article 1 of this decree states: “This decree, issued in application of the provisions of article 102 of law n0036-2015 /CNT of 26 June 2015 on the Mining Code of Burkina Faso, establishes the nomenclature of positions and local employment quotas according to the life cycle of the mine”. It is one of the implementing texts for the Mining Code’s provisions on local content.
Article 2 specifies that this decree applies to holders of mining titles or authorisations, their suppliers and their subcontractors, with the exception of holders of authorisations for small-scale exploitation of mining or quarrying substances and authorisations for prospecting and research into quarrying substances.
Article 4 notes that jobs in the mining sector are reserved first and foremost for Burkinabè with the required skills.
Article 8 explains: “Any holder of a mining title or authorisation, any exclusive supplier or any subcontractor shall provide the Mining Administration with an annual report on the state of implementation of the requirements in terms of training, skills transfer, promotion of local staff and compliance with the quotas defined in article 6 of this decree”.
It should also be noted that the decree provides for penalties. Under article 11, any holder of a mining title or authorisation, any exclusive supplier or any subcontractor is liable to pay an administrative fine for failure to submit a training plan, for failure to implement the decree on the employment quota or to comply with quotas, and for failure to submit the annual report on implementation of the training and succession plan. The fines range from 2 million FCFA to 10 million FCFA.
Why was this decree so eagerly awaited?
People have high expectations of mining. Unfortunately, tax breaks are granted to companies that extract these resources in the name of a policy of attractiveness. In the end, mining revenues are proving to be insignificant in terms of stimulating real development.
Local content, which promotes jobs and local purchasing, presents an opportunity to recover what has been lost.
By requiring mining companies, their suppliers and subcontractors to train nationals, implement a succession plan for expatriates and promote local staff, Burkina Faso is creating long-term national expertise and offering itself a great opportunity to increase its budget revenues. At the same time, it is combating youth unemployment.
Prior to the adoption of these texts, the mining and employment administration did not have a tool for monitoring local employment in the mines. In fact, expatriates were employed as petrol pump attendants in the mines. How can you appoint an expatriate who doesn’t know the laws of Burkina Faso to the post of human resources director without creating labour disputes? Do we necessarily need an expatriate to run a site? What makes an expatriate a Community Relations Officer or Country Director?
In the absence of this text, expatriates were able to change jobs in the mines without constraint.
Although the decree was issued 8 years after the adoption of the Mining Code, it fills a gap. The major challenge facing the Mining Authority is to ensure that the provisions of these texts are applied without complacency, and to impose penalties on those who fail to do so.
Georges Youl
#Mines_Actu_Burkina
