The African Development Bank's 2025 Country Focus Report for Burkina Faso (www.AfDB.org), the national version of the African Economic Outlook, was officially launched on 18 July 2025 in Ouagadougou.

The ceremony was chaired by Souleymane Nabolé, Technical Advisor, representing the Minister of Economy and Finance, in the presence of Daniel Ndoye, the Bank Group’s Country Manager for Burkina Faso. Run virtually, the session brought together more than 80 participants from the public administration, technical and financial partners, the research community and the private sector, as well as Bank executives.

In a video message, Professor Kevin Urama, Chief Economist and Vice President for Economic Governance and Knowledge Management at the African Development Bank, reiterated that Country Focus Reports are designed to inform national policies and foster dialogue between states and their partners.

The 2025 edition of the report focuses on the theme: “Making Burkina Faso's Capital Work Better for its Development.” It analyses the country's recent macroeconomic performance amid a complex security and humanitarian crisis, while presenting medium-term prospects and strategic directions to accelerate economic transformation.

According to the Bank, the Burkinabe economy continued to expand in 2024, despite persistent security, humanitarian, and climate-related challenges. Burkina Faso is blessed in terms of natural, human, entrepreneurial, and financial capital, which if fully taken advantage of could bridge the country's financing gap.

The Burkinabe government concurs with this analysis. According to Nabolé: “Macroeconomic indicators are improving, with growth estimated at five per cent in 2024. To have a significant impact on the social front, we need to think about how the transformation of the Burkinabe economy can be achieved by drawing on human, natural, and financial resources, socio-economic infrastructure, and governance.”

To bridge the financing gap, the report proposes several courses of action, including:

• Improving agricultural productivity and promoting agro-industrial development
• Strengthening mining revenue collection mechanisms and combating illicit financial flows
• Enhancing access to education, health care, and vocational training
• Building the capacities of the tax and customs administrations and the Ministry of Mines
• Enhancing state oversight bodies, modernising the judicial system, and improving forest management.

Abdoulaye Diop, President of the West African Economic and Monetary Union Commission, praised the Bank's holistic approach stating that it “maximises the conditions for success and improved performance of national economies.”

He also highlighted the resilience of the Burkinabe economy, which has remained robust despite a difficult security environment. “In terms of domestic resource mobilisation, Burkina Faso is currently the best performer in our Union with a tax ratio of nearly 19 per cent. In addition, for several years now, it has been one of the countries most committed to implementing Union legislation. That deserves the attention of partners.”

Specific presentations focused on the need to strengthen the harnessing of domestic resources to offset the decline in external aid and financing, to make better use of human capital, to develop mineral resources to fund development, and to improve governance in the way in which various forms of capital are managed.

At the end of the session, Ndoye expressed his delight at the elevated level of participation and the quality of the discussions. “We commend the country's performance, particularly in terms of harnessing resources,” he said, concluding, “We noted a convergence between the report's conclusions and recommendations and the strategies currently being implemented in Burkina Faso, particularly those with a focus on human capital.

In parallel, Nabolé reiterated the Burkinabe government's satisfaction with the quality of its cooperation with the African Development Bank.