THE GEOGRAPHY (Foreign Office UK)
Area: 274,190 sq km; 114,000 sq miles
Population: 12.2 million (UN 2002)
Capital City: Ouagadougou
People: Over sixty ethnic groups make
up the indigenous population. The Mossi
are the main ethnic group
(approximately 50%) based in central
Burkina Faso, Gurunsi, Senoufo, Lobi,
Mande and Fulani are other significant
ethnic groups.
Languages: The official language is
French. African languages of the
Sudanic family are spoken by over 90%
of the population.
Religion(s): Indigenous / animist beliefs
c. 45%, Muslim c. 30%, Christian
(Roman Catholic) c. 14%
Currency: CFA Franc (FCFA). Pegged
at FCFA 655.957 = euro 1.00. (1000 CFA
= £1 approximately.
Major Political Parties: There are
numerous registered parties. The
major parties include: Congres pour la
Democratie et le Progres (CDP) –
('Congress for Democracy and
Progress'); Alliance pour la Democratie
et la Federation - Rassemblement
Democratique Africain (ADF-RDA)
('Alliance for Democracy and
Federation - African Democratic
Rally'); Convention Nationale des
Democrates Progressistes (CNDP)
('National Convention of Progressive
Democrats'); Parti pour le
Developpement et le Progres (PDP)
('Party for Democracy and Progress')
Government: Burkina Faso is a
constitutional republic with a directly
elected president (seven year term,
with a proposal to reduce this to five
from 2005). The parliament has two
chambers: the Assemblée Nationale (111
deputies elected on a 5 year term) and
the Chambre des Representants (178
nominated members on a 3 year term).
GEOGRAPHY
Burkina Faso is a land-locked country
in West Africa and borders Benin,
Togo, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, and
Niger. The country can be divided into
three parts: the Sudanian zone in the
south is the wettest part; the
Sudano-Sahelian zone in the middle,
which covers 50% of the country; and
the Sahelian zone in the north, which is
the drier part of the country.
THE HISTORY (Foreign Office UK)
Recent History
Formerly Upper Volta, the French
colony gained independence in 1960. It
has officially been known as Burkina
Faso (meaning 'the land of the upright')
since 1983. For a number of years
political power alternated between
civilian and military governments.
The current President, Blaise
Compaoré, came to power after a
violent coup in 1987 in which his
predecessor, Thomas Sankara, was
killed. In June 1991, Compaoré
dissolved his 'revolutionary'
government and announced the
formation of a transitional government
leading to presidential and legislative
elections. A Constitution, endorsed by
around half of the electorate in a
national referendum, was enacted on 11
June 1991. A ban on political parties was
lifted. But Compaoré's refusal to
comply with opposition demands for a
National Conference led to riots and an
opposition boycott of the December
1991 presidential elections. Compaoré
(as sole candidate) was elected with a
25 per cent turnout, and sworn in as
President of the Fourth Republic on 24
December 1991. The assassination of
the leading opposition figure, Clement
Ouédraogo, led to the postponement of
legislative elections. When these were
finally held in May 1992, Compaoré's
party, the Congres pour la Democratie
et le Progres (CDP) won a substantial
majority. The CDP repeated this
success in municipal elections in
February 1995, and increased its
majority in the May 1997 legislative
elections. Comparoré was returned to
power in the November 1998
presidential elections (with a 56% voter
turnout).
THE ECONOMY (Foreign Office UK)
GDP per Head: US$230 (1999)
Annual Growth: 4.5% (2002 estimate)
Inflation: 3.9% (2002 estimate)
Major Industries: exports cotton, animal
products and small amounts of gold
Major Trading Partners: Côte d'Ivoire,
France
Exchange rate: 100 CFA = ?0.15 (the
CFA is pegged to the euro)
Trade Partners UK Country Profile:
Burkina Faso
Despite an average annual growth rate
of 4.7% between 1996-2002, Burkina
Faso's economic financial and social
situation remains fragile largely as a
result of three key factors. First
heavy dependence on a limited number
of export commodities (mainly cotton
and cattle) and on external assistance.
Second the weakness of most social
indicators including education and
access to health services. And third
high factors costs such as electricity,
water, telephone and transportation
which makes doing business very
expensive and reduces the
competitiveness of Burkina Faso's
goods internationally. More recently
the landlocked economy has been
adversely affected by the crisis in
Côte d'Ivoire which has caused the
closure of cross border road and rail
links needed for access to Côte
d'Ivoire's ports. Levels of remittances
from Burkina Faso's large community
in Côte d'Ivoire have also fallen since
the outbreak of the crisis.
In April 2002 Burkina reached the
Completion point of the
Enhanced-Highly Indebted Poor
Country (HIPC) initiative. The initiative
makes available up to $100bn of debt
forgiveness to the world’s poorest
countries. However Burkina emerged
with unsustainable debt and as a result
the World Bank and IMF agreed to
grant Burkina exceptional debt relief
(topping up) to achieve debt
sustainability and mitigate the adverse
effects of external shock on the
countries revenue.
Since 1993 Burkina Faso has also
satisfactorily implemented three IMF
Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility
(PRGF) – supported programmes. On
11 June 2003 the IMF granted Burkina
Faso a new three-year PRGF worth
roughly US$17 million. The main aim of
the programme over the medium term
will be for Burkina Faso to implement
appropriate macroeconomic policies
and structural reform consistent with
the Poverty Reduction Strategy
Programme (PRSP) approved under
the HIPC initiative. Paramount will be
the effective privatisation of
loss-making public utilities (telephone,
electricity and cotton parastatals),
trade liberalisation, economic
diversification and good governance. All
of which should help to attract much
need foreign investment. Also key will
be the need for Burkina Faso to
address institutional and physical
bottlenecks which currently prevent
the effective absorption of resources
freed through HIPC debt relief. IMF
medium term (2003-2006) projections
for average annual real GDP growth is
5.2%.
Flags Of The World: Burkina Faso
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