Research Library: Burkina Faso
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Last Updated Nov 06, 2009
Country Information
Government
- Burkina Faso is a parliamentary republic. The president is elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term). A constitutional amendment in 2000 limited the presidential term from seven to five years. The president appoints the prime minister with the consent of the National Assembly. There is a unicameral National Assembly with 111 seats, and members are elected by popular vote.
- Coup leader Blaise Compaore has been president since 1987. He won the last election in 2005. Tertius Zongo became Prime Minister in 2007. The Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP) holds the majority in the National Assembly with 73 seats. CDP's dominance makes it difficult for other parties to gain more seats. The next presidential elections will be in 2010. The next legislative elections will be in 2012.
Political Stability
- Burkina Faso became independent from France in 1960. Repeated military coups followed in the 70s and 80s. In 1983, Capt. Thomas Sankara, initially very popular, and Capt. Blaise Compaore led a coup that overthrew the Council of Popular Salvation (CPS). Sankara vowed to "mobilize the masses." He also changed the country's name to Burkina Faso which means the country of honorable people. Sankara was assassinated during a coup led by Compaore in 1987. Compaore won the subsequent elections promising to continue the mission started by Sankara but correcting his errors. After the 1998 elections, opposition parities protested the murder of a journalist who was investigating the involvement Compaore family members in a separate murder.
- Election observers declared that the 2005 elections not entirely fair due to the control of official resources by the CDP. Checks and balances are not effective due to weak democratic institutions. The 2005 constitutional amendment that limited the presidential term to five years and allowed for one reelection was determined non-retroactive. This allowed Compaore to run for a third time in 2005. It is believe he will attempt to run again in 2010. There were some incidences of the security forces acting independently of civilian authority.
Current Government Policies
- Despite Compaore earlier socialist influences, he is working to privatize the economy with help from the IMF. He has also worked on disarming local militias.
International Reputation
- Burkina Faso is a member of the UN, WTO, IMF and AU. Burkina Faso border regions have become a staging area for Liberian and Côte d'Ivoire rebels and an asylum for refugees caught in regional fighting. The government of Côte d'Ivoire accuses Burkina Faso of supporting Ivorian rebels. Burkina Faso is engaged in a dispute with Benin regarding two villages along the border.
Economics
- Landlocked Burkina Faso is one of the poorest countries in the world. It has limited natural resources and fragile soil. Burkina Faso has a highly unequal distribution of income. About 90% of the population is engaged in agriculture, which is vulnerable to variations in the rainfall. New legislation and revised codes have helped increase exploration and production in the mining sector and the government hopes these changes will also increase foreign investment.
- Burkina Faso, along with Mali, Niger and Chad, petitioned the World Trade Organization to eliminate some cotton subsides provided to competing countries. The internal crisis in Côte d'Ivoire and northern Ghana is hurting trade and industrial prospects, and deepens the need for international assistance. The crises in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana are also hurting Burkinabe seasonal farm workers who cannot find work in these neighboring countries. Burkina Faso is working with the Millennium Challenge Corporation to improve infrastructure and female education.
Foreign Aid
Statistics
Click on statistic name for source information.
Web Resources
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