Burkina Faso has not granted a mining licence to Wagner, a private Russian security group. This assurance was given by the Minister of Energy, Mines and Quarries, Jean Pierre Boussim, to a delegation from the civil society college that sits on the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), on 20 December 2022.
Jonas Hien, president of the civil society college, set the context for the meeting with the minister. On 14 December 2022, on the sidelines of the US-Africa summit, during a meeting with Antony Blinken, the head of US diplomacy, Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo stated that Russian mercenaries are in Burkina Faso. In return, Burkina Faso is said to have ceded a mining licence in the south of the country. The Ghanaian president said he was particularly concerned about the presence of Wagner operating on Ghana’s northern borders. Jonas Hien recalled that the EITI is a process that works to promote transparency in the extractive sector of countries. The statement by the President of Ghana suggests that the licence was granted in accordance with the relevant procedures. Civil society monitoring the mining sector wanted to meet with the Minister of Mines to find out more after the Ghanaian president’s statement.
The Minister of Mines gave a three-part answer. Firstly, no licence has been granted to Wagner. Secondly, the Russian company that has been operating in Burkina Faso for over 15 years is Nordgold. This company has been operating the Taparko mines since 2007 and the Bissa Gold mine since 2013. It also operated the Samtenga sites following a mining convention signed on 31 December 2019. In 2017, Nordgold submitted an application which resulted in the granting of the licence on 7 December 2022 to Nordgold Ymiougou SA. Thirdly, no new licence has been given to any company in southern Burkina Faso in 2022. All companies operating in this part of Burkina Faso have had their permits for years.
At the end of the meeting, Jonas Hien said he was satisfied with the Minister of Mines’ answers. Burkinabè civil society will produce a document addressed to the international EITI on the issue. As a reminder, the EITI is a tripartite group that brings together the state, mining companies and civil society.
Pierre Balma
#Mines_Actu_Burkina
