Burkina Faso has opened its first gold refinery as the military-led government seeks to process more of the country's mineral wealth at home and tighten its control over one of its most important industries. Junta leader Ibrahim Traoré said the move was part of a wider effort to end the country's reliance on exporting raw materials for processing abroad. "We want to refine all our metals on site... we want to have the entire value chain on site," he said at the plant's inauguration in the capital, Ouagadougou, on Monday.
Burkina Faso is one of Africa's biggest gold producers but the authorities have struggled to regulate the informal mining sector, which has been blighted by jihadist violence. Traoré's government hopes the new facility can turn the landlocked country into a regional gold-refining hub. Why Burkina Faso's junta leader has captured hearts and minds around the world How 'blood gold' is fuelling conflict in West Africa With gold production on the rise, Traoré's government set up a state-owned mining company two years ago.
Foreign mining firms are now required to give the state a 15% stake in their operations and train local workers. The World Gold Council said output rose by 17% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2026, helped by increased production at several mines. But successive governments have struggled to regulate the country's extensive artisanal and small-scale mining industry, where smuggling and informal trading have made it difficult for the authorities to account for all the gold produced.
The government has also alleged that some illegally traded gold helps finance the Islamist insurgency that has engulfed much of the country. Burkina Faso has been fighting armed Islamist groups linked to al-Qaeda and Islamic State for years, with large areas outside full government control. The new refinery, known as Raffinor-BF, cost more than 11bn CFA francs ($19m; £14m), according to the presidency.
It said the project was financed by the state, including through the National Precious Metals Company (Sonasp), in partnership with Burkina Faso's private sector. The plant will initially be capable of refining 164 tonnes of gold a year, significantly more than the country's current annual production. The government says its eventual capacity could rise to 515 tonnes, suggesting it also wants the refinery to process gold from elsewhere in the region.
"This is the day we take back the keys to our own house," Mines Minister Yacouba Zabré Gouba said at the opening. "Our gold will no longer be used to create added value for others while our people remain in need." The refinery is the latest element of Capt Traoré's drive to increase state control over Burkina Faso's natural resources and reduce its economic dependence on foreign companies and former Western partners. Since taking power in a coup in September 2022, the 38-year-old army captain has promoted a nationalist economic agenda centred on domestic production and greater control of strategic industries.
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