Burkina Faso Economy

Burkina Faso Economy  | read this item

Burkina Faso belongs to the world’s poorest countries. The country has very few natural resources. Other problems it faces are fragile soil and a big population size. The economy of the country is based on agriculture. Industrial growth is still to come.

Burkina Faso is regarded as an underdeveloped African nation. The share of agriculture in the country’s GDP equals to 35%. This sector of economy involves more than 90% of the working population there. Among the major crops grown in the country are rice, millet, maize and sorghum. It also grows esame, groundnuts, garden vegetables, and shea nuts. As far as live stock is concerned, it has lagged behind recently.

The mineral sector of the country’s economy badly needs developing. At the same time, the newly discovered gold reserves in Poura already now make up over 10% of annual export revenues. Silver and Zinc are also mined in Burkina Faso. The country is helped by the World Bank loans that are aimed at enhancing the country’s mining industry.

Agriculture in the country heavily depends on natural environmental conditions. In the north of the country is Sahara Desert and the climate is very drought there. There has been a UN supported a project on eradication of onchocerciasis or river blindness in the recent years. This facilitated the development of agriculture in river valleys. They have fertility. It should be noted that arable land makes up 17.66% of the total territory of the country.

In 1994 there was devaluation of the CFA Franc by France. This was aimed at drawing investments for exports. It was also oriented at eliminating limit.

The Gross Domestic Product was 17.41 billions in 2007.

The GDP growth rate per year reached 4.2 percent in the year 2007.

Agriculture contributes for 29, 7% out of the total GDP. Industry amounts to 19,4% and services provide about 50,9%. One of the major problems the country faces is a current account balance deficit being estimated at -$706 million. The country’s most exporters are Singapore, Ghana, Niger, China and Thailand. Now China is one of the biggest importers and exports over 30,2% of the country’s total exports.

Topics: african nation, burkina faso, Burkina Faso Economy, cfa franc, economy, gdp growth, gdp growth rate, gold reserves, gross domestic product, industry agriculture, poorest countries, population, world bank