Background

Burkina Faso is a West African nation where 4 in 10 people are living in poverty. The country faces many development challenges and is based largely on agriculture. The mining industry has exponentially boomed in Burkina Faso over the past 25 years. In 2006, gold production totalled 0.40 tonnes, and has since increased to 52.62 tonnes in 2018. With this 140% growth, gold surpassed cotton as the country's most exported product in 2009. According to data from the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), revenue drawn from mining exports in 2018 was estimated at 1,540 billion West African CFA francs, up from 1,022.8 billion in 2016 and 765.44 billion in 2014. 

Australian commercial engagement with Burkina Faso in the mining sector is on the rise. Several Australian mining companies are operating in the country, primarily in the south, including Ampella Mining (zinc, gold), Blackthorn Resources (zinc, gold) and Gryphon Minerals (gold). Other companies undertaking active exploration activities include Mt. Isa Metals, Golden Rim Resources, Middle Island Resources and many others.

Despite this huge industry growth, the local communities were not receiving an adequate proportion of this revenue generated by Burkina Faso’s natural resources. The contribution of mining revenue transferred to local communities was 0.47 percent in 2013, and fell to 0.44 percent in 2014. This means that significantly less than 1% of mining revenue was being reintegrated into the communities that housed these natural resources; a low fiscal contribution that was denounced by civil society. The data exposed the inadequacy of contributions from mining companies, revealing that they were not adhering to the principles outlined in the ECOWAS mining directive.

Action from civil society 

The Mines Alert-PWYP coalition launched its “1% Revenue from Gold” campaign in September 2014, with financial and technical assistance from Oxfam International. The PWYP-Burkina Faso coalition, which consists of a dozen civil society organisations, determined that the establishment of a fund dedicated to financing local development was essential. This was based on Article 16 of the ECOWAS Mining Directive, which asserts that member states shall create a development fund which mining permit holders and other stakeholders must contribute to. PWYP-Burkina Faso campaigned to see this incorporated into the proposed mining code, as well as to include funding of 1% of the mining companies revenues.

The campaign used research, awareness raising, and training. This included the use of television and radio broadcasts which helped draw attention to the data and fuel public debate. This resulted in increased pressure on the government, mining companies, and members of parliament to incite change.

Results

Following the “1% Revenue from Gold” campaign, Burkina Faso’s government adopted a new mining code in 2015 that requires mining companies to contribute 1% of their gross revenues to a community development fund. By July 2019, more than 12 billion Central African Francs (CFA), or approximately US$20 million, had been distributed to local communities and regions across Burkina Faso.

What can we learn?

Burkina Faso’s adoption of the EITI facilitated the collection and distribution of data that sparked the “1% Revenue from Gold” campaign. This demonstrates the EITI’s ability to influence tangible change through its transparency requirements. The EITI is the global standard for transparency and good governance in the extractive sector, and yet, Australia has not implemented the initiative domestically. This refusal to adopt the EITI allows companies to hide their affairs, and could be harming Australian communities through lost revenue.