While the operations of the French Saber force ended on Sunday, and on another level, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) decided to maintain sanctions against the country led by putschists, it is an understatement to say that Burkina Faso finds itself in a delicate situation which has a strong impact on the economic development of the country. For several years now, the country of Upright Men has been strongly engaged in the war against formidable terrorism which requires significant resources, but it must also deal with exogenous shocks, such as the Covid-19 pandemic or the war in Ukraine. Burkina Faso is also affected by climatic crises characterized by cycles of floods or severe droughts. These are all factors that jeopardize long-term projections and affect people’s daily lives. Especially with double-digit inflation in recent months, estimated at 14.6% on average in 2022. How do Burkinabés deal with the various shocks, when they are the first to bear the brunt of the recurrence of political instability? What means does the government have to cross the course without too much damage?
Adama T. is a teacher. This civil servant’s day begins with taking care of his family: breakfast, meals of the day and pocket money for his three children. For all this, he must pay at least 2,000 CFA francs (3.05 euros). The teacher, who commutes to work on a motorbike, quickly does the math: “My home is about 15 km from the school. Per day, I spend a little more than 500 CFA francs on average for fuel, ”he assesses. To save on gas, Adama prefers not to go home when it’s the midday break. An option that still involves costs, mainly for its restoration: no less than 500 CFA francs.
With a monthly income of around 260,000 CFA francs (396.41 euros), the civil servant devotes a large part of this sum to his personal needs and those of his family. Per month, almost a fifth of Adama’s income, or about 50,000 CFA francs, is for food. To this must be added the electricity bill (8,000 to 10,000 francs per month), the water bill (5,000 to 6,000 francs), the rent (65,000 CFA francs), supplies of cereals and other vital commodities. But also “unexpected”, such as when it comes to treating a family member. “In the end, we can’t get out of it. To pay for the compulsory expenses, we sometimes do in resourcefulness, ”acknowledges the teacher. And that’s without taking into account fixed expenses, such as children’s schooling: “For my three children, I spent a little over 350,000 CFA francs this year for their schooling,” says Adama T. So no room for hobbies, such as “going to the movies or treating yourself to a bottle of beer”.
Apart from a few amounts, the priority expenses of Burkinabés on a daily basis are almost the same from one consumer to another: food, travel, care, communication costs… And with high or low incomes, there are many to share the resentment of an ever-increasing cost of living relative to purchasing power. “Day by day, everything is increasing,” notes Fanta Bélem Fofana, a private sector employee. This is also the observation of Mahamadi Compaoré, trader. This shoe seller is delighted to be able to make 5,000 to 6,000 CFA francs a day. “Sufficient, he says, to meet basic expenses,” but far from allowing him to make investments and carry out projects as he teems. “I, too, aspire to build myself a fairly comfortable dwelling, which I do not have at the moment. Well beyond that, I dream of being able to afford a car one day”, projects the trader, before pushing a “alas! of… desperation. “In the market, almost everything has become inaccessible. Starting with foodstuffs, ”laments Mahamadi Compaoré.
For many consumers, the reasons for this higher cost of living are not far to seek. “The activity is slowing down, mainly because of the security instability [which has caused the death of several thousand people and the displacement of nearly two million others in seven years]. Production is impossible in risk areas and this affects the availability of certain products. In addition to this, we must take into account the fact that the repeated increase in the price of gasoline directly impacts the cost of living, “believes Marc Yigui, a belt seller met at the big market in Ouagadougou. It’s not just the health crisis due to Covid-19, and many other shocks, exogenous or not, that have affected purchasing power.
Drawing up the economic and financial situation of Burkina in 2022 and the prospects for the period 2023-2025, the Burkinabé Minister of Finance, Aboubacar Nacanabo, at the end of January, also noted it in these words: “Economic activity and public financial management in 2022 were marked by the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, geostrategic tensions and the resurgence of new variants of Covid-19. He added that at the national level, “we note the persistence of terrorist attacks, the massive internal displacement of populations and its humanitarian consequences and the advent of political transitions”. According to data from the Ministry of Finance, the economy recorded a deceleration in its growth rate to 2.7% in 2022 from 6.9% in 2021, while for the whole of 2022 , inflation stood at an annual average of 14.6% against 3.9% in 2021.
Faced with this economic situation in the country, Burkinabés are showing resilience. An economy and a country that bend, but do not break. The governor of the BCEAO, the West African sub-regional central bank, Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, recently gave his support to the country’s authorities in the face of the economic situation. “Economic growth in 2022 has been positive and is expected to continue to improve in 2023 with an improved crop year in particular,” he observed, while noting that “inflation remains a challenge for the Burkinabe economy as is the case in all the other countries of the Uemoa space”, he said, during a recent visit to the president of the Burkinabe transition, captain Ibrahim Traoré. Hope is therefore allowed and many, like Ablassé Tamalgo, are optimistic. This trader, like many of his compatriots, hopes that the obstacles to the recovery of the economy, including the security crisis, can be removed as soon as possible.
