France and Burkina-Faso

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Political relations

France and Burkina Faso continue their political dialogue. France is also maintaining its cooperation with Burkina Faso and remains committed and available to support the transitional authorities in every field, as the country faces a major humanitarian crisis.

French presence

Consulate of France in Burkina Faso: Ouagadougou

French community in Burkina Faso: 3,100 French nationals registered in April 2023

Consulate of Burkina Faso in France: Paris

Burkina Faso’s community in France: 6,700 Burkina Faso nationals in 2018

Visits

  • The French Minister of State for Development, Francophonie and International Partnerships, Chrysoula Zacharopoulou, visited Ouagadougou on 9 and 10 January 2023.
  • President Roch Kaboré was received by the French President on 10 February 2021. He took part in the Summit on the Financing of African Economies, on 18 May 2021, and the Paris Peace Forum on 11 November 2021.
  • The French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Mr Jean-Yves Le Drian, visited Ouagadougou on 8 January and on 11 June 2021.
  • The Minister Delegate for Gender Equality, Diversity and Equal Opportunities, Élisabeth Moreno, visited Burkina Faso on 17 October 2021 for the launch of the 27th Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO).
  • On 13 January 2020, President Roch Kaboré attended the G5 Sahel Summit in Pau with his counterparts. The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Alpha Barry, also attended the Pau Summit.
  • The Minister of State for European Affairs, Amélie de Montchalin, accompanied the European humanitarian flight to Ouagadougou in June 2020. Minister of State Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne represented France at President Kaboré’s inauguration on 28 December 2020.
  • Minister for the Armed Forces Florence Parly visited Burkina Faso in November 2019.
  • In August 2019, President Roch Kaboré attended the Biarritz G7 Summit, and he visited Paris in November 2018 for the Paris Peace Forum.
  • The Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian, visited Ouagadougou on 16 March and on 19 October 2018.
  • President Roch Kaboré was received on an official visit to Paris on 14 April 2017 and from 17 to 19 December 2018.
  • The President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron, travelled to Burkina Faso from 27 to 29 November 2018.

Economic relations

Burkina Faso was France’s sixth-largest trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa in 2021. Burkina Faso is home to some 50 subsidiaries of French companies. In total, there are an estimated 70 French subsidiaries or interests in Burkina Faso. Some 50 French businesspeople are present in the hospitality and tourism sector.

Investments of French companies are concentrated in the following sectors: agriculture, the food industry, construction, banking and insurance and communications services.

Cultural, scientific and technical cooperation

France is Burkina Faso’s leading bilateral donor. Burkina Faso is one of the 19 priority countries of France’s development policy. In 2022, the Agence Française de Développement (AFD, French Development Agency) dedicated €83 million to priority sectors, while humanitarian assistance stood at €28 million.

In Burkina Faso, the key focuses of activities are support for essential services (water, sanitation, education and training, energy) and local development (rural and urban, particularly in Ouagadougou).

Expertise France has six projects in Burkina Faso funded by France and the European Union, totalling €25 million, with a focus on fragile areas. The thematic priorities are economic and local development, security, and strengthening trust between defence forces and local people.

France is the leading foreign destination for students from Burkina Faso (more than 2,500 in 2019). It provides €590,000 in scholarships.

Burkina Faso is home to two Instituts Français, in Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso, as well as the Maison de la Jeunesse et de l’Innovation (La Ruche), which hosts Campus France, France Volontaires and Canal France International.

The Saint-Exupéry French school in Ouagadougou has 1,045 pupils at all levels, while the André-Malraux school in Bobo-Dioulasso has 260.

Research and technical cooperation institutes in Burkina Faso are highly active with around 50 university agreements, and work with stakeholders such as the French Research Institute for Development (IRD), the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD), and the French Agency for Research on AIDS and Viral Hepatitis (ANRS).

Decentralized cooperation is among the most dynamic of French local authorities with some 130 active partnerships in 2019 and nearly €9 million in decentralized official development assistance announced by local authorities in 2017 (the third-largest recipient in the world).

Other cooperation

In view of the security challenges in the Sahel-Sahara region and Burkinabe involvement in United Nations peacekeeping operations, France and Burkina Faso long maintained extensive security and defence cooperation.

On 18 January 2023, the Burkinabe transitional authorities terminated the 2018 bilateral agreement on the status of French forces in Burkina Faso. On 28 February 2023, they also terminated the 1961 agreement on technical military assistance.

The safe and orderly French military withdrawal from Ouagadougou was completed on 19 February 2023, in full transparency and in coordination with Burkina Faso’s transitional authorities.

Relations with the European Union

The European Union is the leading multilateral donor to Burkina Faso. This support is delivered through the European Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument – Global Europe (NDICI – Global Europe) and stands at €384 million over the period 2021-2024.

EU aid focuses on three priorities: peace, social cohesion, good governance and local development (€115 million); inclusive human development (€80 million); and the green and resilient economy (€134 million).

Updated: 11 May 2023

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