Burkina Faso: After the gold rush
Toronto Star Online | December 1, 2014
"..Following sweeping reforms to mining regulations in 2003, Burkina opened its doors to international companies. The ensuing rush can only be described as a mining boom — and Canada has been at its centre.
Canadian companies opened the country’s first mine and, by the time Essakane opened in 2010, they owned half the gold mines countrywide. Canada is Burkina Faso’s largest source of foreign direct investment with assets soon expected to reach $2 billion.
The mining boom has been a windfall for the Burkinabé government. Taxes and royalties from mines went from $3.8 million in 2008 to $236 million (US) in 2011, the last year for which figures are available, according to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, an international agreement that makes tax and royalty payments from mining companies public. Mining revenues now represent 24 per cent of Burkina’s budget, though the stability of this income was cast into doubt when street protests forced longtime president Blaise Compaoré from power in October.."
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