Burkina Faso opens its first gold refinery

Burkina Faso, one of Africa's biggest gold producers, opened its first gold refinery in Ouagadougou on Monday, 28 September 2026. Captain Ibrahim Traoré, the military leader, inaugurated the plant, known as the National Gold Refinery of Burkina Faso (RAFFINOR-BF).

"Our ambition is no longer to be a country that simply extracts and ships its raw materials abroad," Traoré said, according to AFP.

The refinery

• Capacity: AFP reported 164 tonnes a year, with a long-term target of up to 515 tonnes. Ecofin Agency put it at 150 tonnes a year, refined to 99.99% purity.
• Cost: AFP reported 11 billion CFA francs (about $19 million). Ecofin put construction at about CFA7 billion ($12 million), not counting the land.
• Ownership: built by the state with domestic private partners. The project was launched in November 2023 with Malian partner Marena Gold, whose shares have since been bought out by the state company SONASP, according to Ecofin.
• Jobs: about 100 direct and 5,000 indirect, according to official figures.

Where the gold will come from

Burkina Faso produced more than 94 tonnes of gold in 2025, about 43 tonnes of it from artisanal and semi-mechanised mines, Ecofin reported. The 2024 mining code requires industrial and small-scale miners to have part of their output refined in the country.

Supply is the open question. Ecofin reported that steady feedstock for the plant is not yet secured. Other refineries are also being built in West Africa, including Guinea's planned Nimba refinery, and they will compete for the same gold.

Why it matters

For years, most African gold has been refined abroad, often in Switzerland or the United Arab Emirates, so much of the value was added elsewhere. Burkina Faso's refinery is part of the junta's push to process resources at home and depend less on foreign companies. Its success will depend on how much gold it can actually attract.