Burkina Faso Opens First Gold Refinery in Ouagadougou
President Ibrahim Traore inaugurated the RAFFINOR-BF gold refinery to increase local value addition and strengthen national sovereignty over the extractive industry.
Ibrahim Traore inaugurated Burkina Faso's first gold refinery, RAFFINOR-BF, in Ouagadougou on Monday. The facility cost 11 billion CFA francs, or approximately 19 million U.S. dollars, and was funded by the state through the National Precious Substances Company alongside private partners.
RAFFINOR-BF has an initial annual capacity to process 164 tonnes of dore gold into fine-gold bars with 99.9 percent purity. The complex includes a foundry, an analysis laboratory, secure storage, and a jewelry-making unit. The project seeks to increase local value addition for gold, which has now surpassed cotton as the primary export for the country.
President Traore described the refinery as a turning point for national sovereignty and a method to master the extractive industry. This opening follows the May 2026 establishment of the Siniyan-Sigui sovereign mining fund, which the government created to finance structural investments in the mining sector.
