• Petroleum oil, fertilizers and explosives in the lead
• China remains the main supplier
• Followed by Ivory Coast and France
EAt the end of April 2023, the National Institute of Statistics and Demography (INSD) published Burkina Faso’s foreign trade flow, for the first 3 months of the year. It can be seen, among other things, that the amounts of imports to our country increased by 9.7% compared to the first quarter of 2022. As for the quantities imported, they are 2.1 million tonnes in the first quarter of 2023. Compared in the first 3 months of 2022, there is an increase of 11.8%.
The surprise comes at the level of the supplier countries. The top 5 supplier countries of Burkina Faso were discussed between China, Côte d’Ivoire, France, Ghana and India, at the start of 2022. For this year 2023, Russia marks its entry into this top 5 supplier countries of Burkina Faso. For the months of February to April alone, 75,660 tons of products were sent to Faso, for a net value of more than 49 billion FCFA.
Petroleum oil, fertilizers and explosives in the lead
The largest product in terms of amount coming from Russia is a compound of petroleum oils or bituminous minerals. INSD statistics add to this list “other than crude oils, preparations nes, containing by weight 70% or more of petroleum oils or bituminous minerals and of which these oils constitute the basic element; oil waste”.
It is a natural oily liquid, composed mainly of hydrocarbons, among which saturated hydrocarbons predominate (alkanes, naphthenes). By distillation under specific conditions, various products are obtained which are used in industry (fuels, fuels, solvents, lubricating oils, etc.) and pharmacy (petroleum ether, vaseline, etc.). This product, Burkina has imported from Russia, 52,146 tons, for a total value of more than 38 billion FCFA.
The country has also invested more than 4 billion, this time in the purchase of chemical fertilizer. We know that the country uses it in large quantities. The annual needs of its wet agricultural campaign in agricultural inputs are estimated at 211,856 tons of NPK, those of urea at 79,376. For this first quarter of 2023, 11,900 tonnes were imported from Russia to cover the country’s needs.
The 3e product in the INSD list are “prepared explosives, other than propellants”. For the first quarter of 2023, 7,760 tons of this product were imported, for a value of 6.2 billion FCFA. It is followed by products of the category “Other articles of iron and steel”, of which 55 tons entered the country, for a value of 46 million FCFA.
China, main supplier
Despite these statistics, it is China, for this first quarter of the year, which is at the head of the importing countries in Burkina. The land of the rising sun returns to the top of the ranking, after being overtaken by France at the end of 2022. Côte d’Ivoire ranks second, followed by France and Russia. Togo, meanwhile, closes the ranking. According to INSD data, China is Burkina’s main supplier in the first quarter of 2023. The country imported 117.7 billion FCFA of goods from China, or 13.9% of total imports. These imports are essentially composed of “large iron or steel plates and sheets” (14.6%), “disinfectants, insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, anti-rodents” (4.9%), “lamps, tubes and electric valves” (4.1%). China is followed by Côte d’Ivoire (13.0%), France (8.1%), Russia (5.9%) and Togo (5.6%).
NK
framed
Exports: revenue down
LExports in the first quarter of 2023 are down 13% in value (revenue) and 14% in volume, compared to the first 3 months of 2022. In the first quarter of 2023, non-monetary gold remains the main exported product and represents 74.5% of the country’s total export values.
Cotton is the second exported product and contributes 8.5% of total exports in value. “Fresh or dried fruit (except oleaginous fruit), which represents 4.2% of export earnings, is the third most exported product in the first quarter of 2023. These three products represent 87.1% of total earnings of exports, highlighting the low diversification of the products exported by the country.
Gold export earnings experienced a quarterly drop of 38.5 billion FCFA, a decline of 7%. As for those of cotton, they fell from 95.1 billion FCFA in the fourth quarter of 2022 to 58.2 billion FCFA in the first quarter of 2023. This drop (-38.8%) is mainly due to the seasonal nature of the activity of ginning of cotton. o
