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Burkina Faso: Navigating a Challenging Business Environment

Governance and Corruption

Burkina Faso has made efforts to establish a legal anti-corruption framework, but implementation is lacking. The country is currently in the candidacy stage of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) process.

Key Anti-Corruption Measures:

• Criminalization of corruption, embezzlement, abuse of office, extortion, and influence-peddling in the public sector
• New anti-corruption law passed in 2015 requiring all public officials to submit financial asset declarations

Money Laundering and Financial Transparency

Burkina Faso has criminalized money laundering in accordance with its membership in the Inter-Governmental Action Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA).

Financial Penalties:

• Heavy financial penalties for libel, which can restrict press freedom
• Ongoing challenges in areas such as corruption, transparency, and accountability

Investment Climate and Governance

The World Bank’s Doing Business 2017 report ranks Burkina Faso 184th out of 190 economies in terms of ease of doing business. The country has made efforts to improve its investment climate, but challenges remain.

Governing Factors:

• Partly Free: Rating by the Bertelsmann Foundation’s Transformation Index 2016
• Challenges in areas such as corruption, transparency, and accountability

Conclusion

While Burkina Faso has made progress in improving its business environment and governance, there is still much work to be done to address ongoing challenges.