The 2nd Artisanal Miners’ Day (JAM) was held on 21 and 22 July 2023 in Gaoua in the South-West region. Many artisanal miners’ associations took part in the event. El Hadj Ben Sékou Barro, representing the artisanal miners, spoke at the opening ceremony. He listed the many difficulties facing artisanal miners.
Today, artisanal gold mining employs around one million people, providing income for more than 03 million people in Burkina Faso. At this 2nd edition of the JAM, these artisanal miners, made up of some thirty associations, made their presence felt through, among other things, presentations, BtoB meetings and exhibitions. The artisanal miners took the opportunity to present their concerns and expectations to the transitional authorities. According to El Hadj Ben Sékou Barro, “These concerns are linked to the poor supervision and organisation of the sector, the lack of formalisation of the players, the still rudimentary nature of certain mining and processing methods, the often difficult cohabitation with neighbouring populations and also with industrial operators, and the lack of security on the sites”, according to El Hadj Ben Sékou Barro.
The difficult security situation in Burkina Faso has led the government to temporarily suspend artisanal mining activities throughout the country.
El Hadj ben Sékou Barro, the artisanal miners, while understanding the merits of the measure, called for it to be made more flexible, especially in areas with low security challenges. “We are also asking for unfailing support from the government in the form of local supervision and the strengthening of our operational capacities”, he added.
On the theme of “Artisanal mining: what mechanisms are needed to formalise operators in order to improve the socio-economic impact of the sector ?”, the artisanal miners expressed the hope that better solutions would be found to ensure that operators in this sub-sector are formalised, with a view to making a better contribution to the national economy.
JAM is a framework for promoting and sharing experience and best practice in terms of technology, organisation, management and environmental protection.
The aim is to think about how to better organise this activity and the players involved, so as to definitively stem the flow of terrorist financing from this activity.
