• They reached more than 120 billion FCFA in the first 8 months of 2024
• Increased interest from Turkish investors in Burkina Faso
• Strengthen the activities of the Türkiye-Burkina Faso Business Council
L’Economist Faso: How are the trade relations between Burkina Faso and Turkiye, and how does the office of the trade adviser intend to contribute to these relations?
Dr. Yakup GÜZEL, Commercial Counsellor, Embassy of Turkey and Burkina Faso : Relations between Türkiye and Burkina Faso are developing day by day at a commercial and economic level as in all other areas. The volume of our mutual trade has increased significantly in recent years. While this was 181 million dollars (109,924,880,616. F CFA) in 2023, it reached 198 million dollars (120,249,316,917 F CFA) in the first eight months of the year 2024, which is equivalent to an increase of more than 40% compared to the same period of the previous year.
In addition to trade, we are happy to see increasing interest from Turkish investors in Burkina Faso. Recently, for example, the first stone of a pasta and flour factory was laid in the province of Bazèga, with a total budget of around 8 billion FCFA. This factory should be operational in 2025. In the real estate and construction sector, we also note that Turkish companies have started several projects in Burkina Faso in recent years.
We are convinced that there is much more potential than the current cooperation between our countries in terms of trade and investment. This is the reason why our office was opened on 1Yes August 2024, inside the Embassy of the Republic of Türkiye, in Ouagadougou, and began to offer its services.
One of the priorities of our office is to provide companies with accurate and comprehensive information about the markets of both countries, as well as connecting sellers and buyers. Through the “Consult your Advisor” application of the Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Türkiye, hundreds of Turkish businessmen can receive information from our office about business and investment opportunities in Burkina Faso. Lists of regional companies that facilitate connections between Turkish and Burkinabe companies are also available from our office. In addition, Burkinabè businessmen who want to trade with Türkiye can benefit from our services for free.
We place particular emphasis on ongoing coordination with existing professional organizations in both countries. Therefore, we intend to strengthen the activities of the Türkiye-Burkina Faso Business Council, which has existed, in fact, since 2018, in cooperation with the Council for Foreign Economic Relations (DEİK), Chamber of Commerce and Burkina Faso Business (CCI-BF) and Burkinabè Investment Agency (ABI).
How to attract more Turkish investors to Burkina?
Türkiye has many experienced companies doing quality works in several countries, especially in big budget projects such as roads, water, electricity, dams, hospitals and mining. We are aware that Burkina Faso, with its rich natural resources and young population open to development, shows a lot of economic potential. Along with the evolution of relations between the two countries in all areas, Turkish investors are showing more interest in investment opportunities in Burkina Faso. In order to convert this interest into concrete collaborations, it is essential that the existing opportunities in Burkina Faso are well presented to Turkish investors. We see with pleasure the importance that the government of Burkina Faso gives to promotional activities in the context of investments. We are confident that the promotional efforts made by ABI in coordination with DEİK and the relevant Chambers of Commerce will bear fruit as soon as possible.
On the other hand, as in all countries, we believe that it would be beneficial to have measures aimed at increasing the interest of foreign investors in Burkina Faso. In this context, the incentives offered to investors, tax benefits for certain periods, guarantee of receipts, in particular, in long-term investments, simplification and acceleration of administrative procedures, facilitate transfers of money and reducing costs as well. as a confidence booster in the judicial system, they play a key role in making Burkina Faso an increasingly attractive country for investors.
In terms of trade, goods are one of the ways to connect the two capitals of the two countries. Are the freight conditions from Türkiye to Burkina favorable enough to attract investors?
First, it should be emphasized that Türkiye’s geographical location gives it an advantage over many other supplier countries in terms of delivery times and transport costs in trade with Africa, including Burkina Faso. Although Burkina Faso’s lack of a coastline naturally affects its international trade, this is not an insurmountable obstacle. Steps to improve transportation infrastructure will help strengthen our trade and economic relationships in mutually beneficial ways.
In this context, the measures that may be taken to relieve congestion in the ports of neighboring countries used by Burkina Faso, strengthen the air, road infrastructure and sea, as well as simplifying and speeding up customs procedures using digital technologies allowing to reduce doubt on logistics. costs and shorten delivery times. These actions will increase the volume of trade between our two countries. The development of logistics infrastructure will also be of great help in attracting more investors to the country.o
Comments collected by ESS
