weighted score 6.2 · nine dimensions
Country Risk Profile
Burkina Faso
Sourcing risk, regulatory exposure and audit intelligence for Burkina Faso-origin supply chains.
Forced & child labour
7
ILAB lists gold and cotton for child and forced labour. Artisanal gold mining involves hundreds of thousands of children. Widespread child labour in agriculture. Insurgency worsening conditions.
Worker rights & FOA
7
Military junta has weakened institutional oversight. Freedom of association restricted under military rule. Worker rights protections exist in law but enforcement is minimal.
OHS & audit transparency
7
Artisanal mining extremely hazardous — mercury exposure, collapse risk. Audit access impossible in insurgency-affected areas. Minimal audit infrastructure even in government-controlled zones.
Food & product safety
5
Food safety regulation exists but enforcement capacity is minimal. Low EU-bound food export volumes limit RASFF alert history. Subsistence agriculture dominates.
Environmental & regulatory
6
Artisanal gold mining causes severe mercury pollution and deforestation. No effective environmental governance. Sahel desertification ongoing. Limited EUDR exposure.
Governance & anti-corruption
8
TI CPI ~24 (very high corruption). Military junta since 2022 coup. Rule of law absent in large areas. Expelled French and UN forces. Turned to Russian Wagner/Africa Corps.
Tariff & preferential access
2
EU EBA provides duty-free access. However, EBA eligibility at risk due to coup and governance deterioration. ECOWAS membership uncertain. CFA franc provides some currency stability.
Non-tariff barriers
6
EU Conflict Minerals Regulation applies to gold. EU Forced Labour Regulation will create enhanced due diligence burden for gold and cotton. ILAB listings create US import risk.
Supply chain traceability
8
Artisanal gold mining has no traceability infrastructure. Gold is highly fungible and easily mixed with other origins. Cotton traceability is weak. Multi-tier supply chain opacity is pervasive.
Labour & Social Risk
Labour & Social Risk
- Forced labour risk
- Very high forced labour risk. US ILAB lists gold and cotton as produced with child and forced labour. Artisanal gold mining sector is a major source of child labour — estimated hundreds of thousands of children working in mines. Forced labour also documented in agriculture.
- Child labour
- Child labour is widespread and systemic. Approximately 40% of children aged 5–17 are engaged in economic activity. Artisanal gold mining, cotton production, and agriculture are the primary sectors. The insurgency has worsened child labour as displaced families rely on children's income.
- Worker rights
- Worker rights protections exist in law but enforcement is minimal. The military junta has further weakened institutional oversight. Freedom of association is restricted under military rule. Independent unions have limited operating space.
- Audit access
- Social compliance audits are extremely difficult due to the security situation. Large parts of the country are inaccessible. Even in government-controlled areas, audit infrastructure is minimal and reliability is very low.
- ILAB status
- Gold and cotton are listed on the US Department of Labor List of Goods Produced by Child or Forced Labor (ILAB 2024). This is a significant red flag for any supply chain with Burkina Faso-origin gold or cotton.
EU Regulatory Exposure
EU Regulatory Exposure
- GSP status
- Burkina Faso qualifies for EU Everything But Arms (EBA) — duty-free, quota-free access. However, the EU has suspended some development aid following the 2022 coup. EBA eligibility review possible if governance deteriorates further or if human rights conditions worsen significantly.
- EUDR exposure
- Limited direct EUDR exposure — Burkina Faso is not a major producer of EUDR-regulated commodities. Some shea butter (wood/oil-related) may require due diligence. Cotton is not EUDR-regulated.
- EU Forced Labour Regulation
- Regulation (EU) 2024/3015 applies from December 2027. Very high risk — gold and cotton are ILAB-listed for child and forced labour. Article 5 investigations are highly likely for Burkina Faso-origin goods in these categories.
- EU Conflict Minerals
- EU Conflict Minerals Regulation (2021) applies to gold, tin, tantalum, and tungsten. Burkina Faso gold — particularly from artisanal and small-scale mining — faces enhanced due diligence requirements under this regulation.
Logistics & Supply Chain
Logistics & Supply Chain
- Primary export corridor
- Landlocked — road/rail via Ivory Coast to Abidjan port, or via Togo to Lomé port, or via Ghana to Tema port
- Key transit challenges
- Jihadist insurgency disrupts road transport in northern and eastern regions. Transit corridors to coastal ports face periodic security incidents. Road quality is poor throughout the country.
- Main EU destination ports
- Via Abidjan/Lomé/Tema to European ports — typically Rotterdam, Antwerp, Le Havre. Gold exports often by air freight.
- Typical transit time
- 25–40 days to Northwest Europe depending on route, security situation, and port congestion at transit ports
- Scope 3 relevance
- Multimodal transport (road to coast + sea freight) with long inland distances generates elevated per-unit emissions. Air freight for gold exports has very high carbon intensity.