Orokia Ouattara

Orokia Ouattara is our exclusively recommended Banking & Finance and Business Law expert in Burkina Faso on the Advisory Excellence website. If you need assistance in this area, please contact Orokia directly using the contact details listed above.

The economy of Burkina Faso is mostly dependent on agriculture, while gold exports are growing. According to the United Nations Development Program’s 2021-2022 HDI report, Burkina Faso is ranked 184th out of 191 nations.

In 2021, the economy saw a robust recovery, expanding by an estimated 6.9%. The recovery in the service sector and the continuing rise in gold exports were the main drivers of this expansion. The primary sector contracted by 4.1% as a result of the drop in agricultural production brought on by the lack of rain.

Exports increased by 6.5% in 2021, helped by the gold industry, and imports rose by 15.5%, mostly due to increases in the cost of power and hydrocarbons. Due to this, the current account deficit has increased from 0.1% of GDP in 2020 to an estimated 3.0% of GDP today.

Inflation reached a record high of 3.9% in 2021 due to strong domestic demand brought on economic growth and the effects of supply chain bottlenecks throughout the year.

Last but not least, the fiscal deficit expanded to 6.0% of GDP in 2021 as a result of the rapid rise in defence and security-related expenditure, a structurally high public wage bill, and ever-increasing humanitarian needs. At the same time, public debt passed the 50% level and domestic debt now makes up the majority of total debt.