The Ministry of Energy, Mines and Quarries has undertaken reforms of the legal and regulatory framework of the mining sector in Burkina Faso. For the first authorities of this ministry, the objective is to increase the impact of the Burkinabe mining sector on the national economy. These reforms aim to provide the country with appropriate legal instruments and to revise some existing ones to make them more effective.
Several people from government structures, mining companies, trade unions in the field, NGOs and civil society organisations were invited to working sessions that lasted several days between February and March 2023.
At the end of the work, which took place on 9 March 2023, the results of the work revealed the examination of two preliminary drafts, one relating to local content in the mining sector and the other relating to the marketing of gold and other precious substances in Burkina Faso. Three existing decrees were revised. These are the decree on the management of mining titles and authorisations, the decree on mining taxes and royalties and the decree on the organisation, functioning and modalities of collection and distribution of the Mining Fund for Local Development. These revisions not only corrected the shortcomings noted in these decrees during their application but also adapted them to the current context. The main innovations concerned the opening of the capital of mining companies to nationals, the affirmation and better supervision of local content, the regulation of the creation of a refinery, better tax yield, the fight against fraud, etc. One of the major innovations introduced by this reform concerns the use of the Mining Fund for local development. Indeed, it was agreed that part of this fund will be transferred to the Patriotic Support Fund.
The adopted drafts will be forwarded to the General Secretariat of the Government for introduction in the Council of Ministers. Once adopted by the Council of Ministers, the decrees will be applied immediately while the draft laws will be transmitted to the Transitional Legislative Assembly for adoption.
Elie KABORE
#Mines_Actu_Burkina
