Burkina Faso

UEMOA foreign-exchange regulation: domiciliation of exports, repatriation and surrender of export proceeds

Website

https://www.bceao.int

Anti-fraud brigade for gold commercialisation (Décret 2018-0967); AML/CFT supervisor of dealers in precious metals (Décret 2023-1308, as cited by the BNAF report). [inferred] Acts as the anti-fraud organ of Code Arts 286-296 pending its implementing decree.

Attends pouring, samples and assays industrial gold (Décret 2018-0970 Arts 2, 10-14); controls and hallmarks ASM ingots and issues the control certificate (Arts 15-21); receives samples of products for export (Code Art. 45); controls refined bars before export (Décret 2025-0348 Art. 59)

Website

http://bumigeb.bf

Financial intelligence unit; receives suspicious-transaction reports (reporting duty under Loi 016-2016/AN, not held)

Website

https://www.centif.bf

Grants industrial large- and small-mine exploitation permits by decree in Council of Ministers

Export declaration and clearance (Code des douanes 2025 Arts 101, 122); attends weighing and packing of industrial gold (Décret 2018-0970 Art. 3); records the attestation d'exportation (Règlement 06/2024 Annex II Art. 23); prosecutes FX offences (Code des douanes Arts 469-471)

Website

http://www.douanes.bf

Prior authorisation of gold imports and exports (Règlement 06/2024/CM/UEMOA Art. 20); Treasury manages the national gold reserve (Décret 2025-0414 Art. 2); tax collection

Mining titles; agréments for comptoirs, refining and residue treatment (Décret 2025-0348); collector cards (Décret 2025-0348 Art. 32); biometric artisan miner cards (Décret 2025-0376 Art. 8); artisanal mining corridors; supervision of SONASP; the Commission technique nationale des mines advises on titles and conventions (Décret 2025-0380)

Website

https://www.energie-mines.gov.bf

National structure for securing mine sites and mining activities, including transfers of mining products; title holders must use it (Décret 2025-0378 Arts 2-4; created by Décret 2024-055)

Société d'État (Décrets 2023-1417 and 2023-1418 of 24 Oct 2023) that replaced ANEEMAS; acts as the 'organisme public d'achat et de vente d'or' of the 2024 Code: buys ASM gold (Code Arts 241, 251), buys industrial and refined gold sold in Burkina Faso (Arts 246, 261), may exercise the State's pre-emption (Art. 237), receives the ASM royalty from comptoirs (Décret 2025-0331 Art. 19), is exempt from agrément and from mining taxes (Code Arts 243, 256); owns 100% of the Raffinerie nationale d'or after buying out Marena Gold (ITIE 2024)

Website

https://sonasp.bf

State mining holding that owns and operates nationalised mines (Boungou, Wahgnion and three exploration licences, June 2025)

Dealers in precious metals as reporting entities; CENTIF reporting

Kind

Act

Repealed on

2024-12-30

Current AML/CFT/CPF law: customer due diligence and reporting duties, including for dealers in precious metals

Kind

Act

In force from

2024-12-30

Domiciliation of exports above FCFA 20 million (Art. 3); engagement de change (Art. 5); attestation d'exportation presented to customs (Art. 6); repatriation within one month of the due date, due date within 120 days of shipment, at least 80% through BCEAO correspondent accounts (Art. 7); clearance and 10-year retention (Art. 8); temporary gold exports above 500 g domiciled (Art. 2); repeals Instruction 03-07-2011 (Art. 13)

Kind

Circular

In force from

2025-08-01

VAT and other taxes on gold sales; amended yearly by finance laws

Kind

Act

Titles (Arts 38, 72-73, 81, 88-100); samples of products for export lodged with the national geological laboratory (Art. 45); State equity (Arts 66-67); right to export for industrial permits (Art. 69); local transformation (Art. 70); fixed fees, surface tax and royalty (Arts 156-159); Fonds minier de développement, 1% of monthly turnover (Arts 28-29); commercialisation of gold (Title IX, Arts 234-264: gold traded as coins, ingots or assayed bars, State pre-emption, prior authorisation and artisan card, sales of ASM gold only to comptoirs or the public buyer, registers, agréments, refining); offences (Arts 265-276); anti-fraud organ (Arts 286-296); repeal of Loi 036-2015/CNT, Loi 012-2023/ALT and Loi 028-2017/AN (Art. 309)

Citation

Adopted by the ALT 18 Jul 2024; promulgated by Décret n°2024-0879/PRES of 31 Jul 2024

Kind

Act

In force from

2024-07-31

Anti-fraud brigade for gold commercialisation

Kind

Decree

In force from

2018-10-24

Natural persons: 500 g of raw gold without declaration, declaration to the Administration des mines above, 2,000 g maximum, savings purchases only from ANEEMAS (now SONASP) (Arts 2-4)

Kind

Decree

In force from

2018-10-24

Gold royalty bands (Art. 18); ASM gold FCFA 100/g collected by comptoirs and paid to SONASP (Art. 19); royalty payable within 21 days of the weighing report (Art. 4); surface tax (Arts 7, 8, 16); fixed fees (Arts 11-12); royalty in kind (Art. 20); 10%/day penalties (Art. 21); repeals Décrets 2017-0023 and 2023-1454 (Art. 22)

Kind

Decree

In force from

2025-03-25

Agréments for residue treatment, gold buying and selling (comptoirs) and gold refining: Burkinabè company with at least 40% of capital for the State or nationals (Art. 2); comptoir agrément by interministerial arrêté for 3 years, FCFA 3,000,000 fee plus FCFA 3,000,000 deposit (Arts 23-26); FCFA-only purchases and registers (Art. 28); rights limited to buying and selling to the public buyer (Art. 29); obligation to sell to it (Art. 31); collector cards (Art. 32); refining agrément 5 years, FCFA 50,000,000 fee plus FCFA 100,000,000 deposit (Arts 55-57); refinery rights and duties, refining certificate (Arts 58-60); withdrawal including for AML failures (Art. 63); Treasury, BCEAO and public buyer exempt (Art. 66); repeals Décrets 2023-796 and 2018-249 (Art. 67)

Kind

Decree

In force from

2025-04-01

Artisanal mining corridors, AEA for cooperatives (Art. 2), biometric artisan miner card issued by the Administration des mines on the cooperative's request (Art. 8), access to extraction and gold-selling zones reserved to card holders (Art. 13), cahier des charges by arrêté (Art. 17), security by the national site-security structure (Art. 19); repeals Décret 2018-1017 (Art. 22)

Kind

Decree

In force from

2025-04-03

Refined gold 24 carats / 99.99% (Art. 2); industrial permit holders transform or add value to all or part of output in Burkina Faso, proportion fixed by arrêté of the Minister of Mines (Art. 3); derogation (Art. 5); six months to comply (Art. 7)

Kind

Decree

In force from

2025-04-03

Treasury manages the national gold reserve (Art. 2); fed by dividends in gold, purchases of production, seizures, SONASP dividends in gold (Art. 3); State pre-emption: producers sell requested quantities first to the State without compensation or price mark-up (Art. 5)

Kind

Decree

In force from

2025-04-08

Holders of gold for export must contact SONASP, which pays for it; created the SONASP single export window for ASM gold before the 2024 Code put the same result into law (Code Arts 241, 249, 251; Décret 2025-0348 Arts 29, 31)

Kind

Other

In force from

2024-02-20

No gold-specific tax measure; Art. 17 amends CGI Art. 239 (patente table C now names the public gold buyer)

Kind

Act

In force from

2026-01-01

Former gold commercialisation law: comptoir agréments then included export (Art. 22), semi-mechanised permits gave the right to sell abroad (Art. 27), a single window at the ASM agency (ANEEMAS) bought and exported gold (Art. 14); created the BNAF (Art. 38). Décrets 2018-0969 and 2018-0970 were made under it. Repealed by Code Art. 309.

Kind

Act

In force from

2017-05-18

Repealed on

2024-07-31

Kind

Decree

In force from

2025-06-12

Gold import/export needs prior authorisation of the Minister of Finance, requested by letter (Art. 20, Annex X); surrender of foreign currency (Art. 5); repatriation of export proceeds (Art. 11, Annex II Art. 15); temporary gold exports domiciled (Art. 21); engagement de change and attestation d'exportation (Annexes IX-1, IX-2); repeals Règlement 09/2010 (Art. 35); in force on signature (Art. 36)

Kind

Regulation

In force from

2024-12-20

Traveller cash declarations (Arts 4, 7) and limits (Arts 2, 5, 6, 8); declaration form includes goods used as a store of value; repeals Instruction 05-07-2011/RFE (Art. 14)

Kind

Circular

In force from

2025-08-01

Previous mining code (amended by Loi 012-2023/ALT); repealed by Loi 016-2024/ALT Art. 309

Citation

Promulgated by Décret n°2015-885/PRES-TRANS of 16 Jul 2015

Kind

Act

In force from

2015-07-16

Repealed on

2024-07-31

Exports declared in detail at a customs office (Arts 101, 122-125); aircraft leave from customs airports (Art. 103); export duties per tariff (Art. 9); FX-law offences prosecuted as customs offences (Arts 469-471); repeals the 1962 code and its 1992 revision (Art. 473)

Citation

Promulgated by Décret n°2025-0413/PRES of 7 Apr 2025

Kind

Act

In force from

2025-04-07

Earlier royalty scale; amended by Décret 2023-1454; repealed by Décret 2025-0331 Art. 22

Kind

Decree

In force from

2017-01-23

Repealed on

2025-03-25

Pouring in the presence of BUMIGEB (Art. 2); weighing and packing with BUMIGEB, DGMG and customs, weighing report with specification sheet and invoice at the London fixing (Arts 3-4); royalty within 60 days of the assessment (Art. 5); export title and engagement de change at customs (Art. 8); 72 h notice (Art. 12); BUMIGEB control, hallmark and certificate for ASM ingots (Arts 15-21)

Kind

Decree

In force from

2018-10-24

BNAF is the supervisory and control authority for dealers in precious stones and metals (Art. 4, as cited)

Kind

Decree

In force from

2023-10-06

Title procedures; quarterly and annual activity reports by industrial and semi-mechanised permit holders (Art. 22); repeals Décret 2017-0036

Kind

Decree

In force from

2025-03-11

Kind

Decree

In force from

2025-03-21

Title holders must use the national site-security structure (ONASSIM, created by Décret 2024-055) for securing their activities and sites, including transfers of mining products (Arts 2-4); application and service contract (Arts 5-7)

Kind

Decree

In force from

2025-04-03

Kind

Decree

In force from

2023-10-27

Repealed on

2025-03-25

Kind

Decree

In force from

2023-10-24

Previous UEMOA FX regulation (with BCEAO Instructions 01-11/07/2011); repealed and replaced by Règlement 06/2024/CM/UEMOA Art. 35

Kind

Regulation

Repealed on

2024-12-20

AEA

Held by

Holder of an artisanal exploitation authorisation (AEA)

Issued by

Administration des mines (MEMC)

Valid for

2 years, renewable for 2-year periods (Art. 96)

Fee

Grant FCFA 1,000,000; renewal FCFA 1,500,000; annual flat royalty FCFA 2,000,000 (Décret 2025-0331 Art. 12); surface tax FCFA 1,500,000/km²/year (Art. 16)

Agrément

Held by

Gold refinery in Burkina Faso (agréé refiner)

Issued by

Minister of Mines by arrêté (Décret 2025-0348 Art. 55)

Valid for

5 years, renewable; renewal filed at least 90 days before expiry, FCFA 500,000 per day of delay (Décret Arts 55-56)

Fee

Grant and renewal FCFA 50,000,000 each plus deposit FCFA 100,000,000; file fee FCFA 100,000 (Décret Arts 53, 56, 57)

Agrément

Held by

Comptoir (licensed gold buying house)

Issued by

Ministers of Mines, Finance and Commerce by interministerial arrêté, after the opinion of the technical commission on agréments (Décret 2025-0348 Arts 3, 23)

Valid for

3 years, renewable; renewal application at least 90 days before expiry, FCFA 25,000 per day of delay (Code Art. 255; Décret Arts 23, 25)

Fee

Grant FCFA 3,000,000 plus deposit FCFA 3,000,000; renewal FCFA 3,000,000; file fee FCFA 10,000 (Décret Arts 22, 24, 26)

Biometric artisan miner card (personal)

Held by

Artisanal miner (orpailleur) holding an artisan miner card

Issued by

Organisme public d'achat et de vente d'or (SONASP) under Code Art. 238; [conflict] Décret 2025-0376 Art. 8 says the Administration des mines issues the biometric card

Collector card

Held by

Collecteur (gold collector)

Issued by

Administration des mines, on the agrément holder's request (Décret 2025-0348 Art. 32)

Valid for

Same as the agrément, at most 3 years; one valid card per person (Décret Art. 32)

Fee

Set by arrêté of the Minister of Mines; application stamped FCFA 500 (Décret Art. 32)

Permit and mining convention

Held by

Industrial mine (large or small mine permit holder)

Issued by

Government, by décret d'attribution (Code Art. 72)

Valid for

10 years or mine life if shorter, renewable for 5-year periods (Art. 72)

Fee

Grant FCFA 30,000,000; renewal FCFA 50,000,000 (Décret 2025-0331 Art. 12)

Permit

Held by

Industrial mine (large or small mine permit holder)

Issued by

Government, by décret d'attribution (Code Art. 73)

Valid for

5 years or mine life, renewable for 5-year periods (Art. 73)

Fee

Grant FCFA 25,000,000; renewal FCFA 40,000,000 (Décret 2025-0331 Art. 12)

Permit

Held by

Semi-mechanised mining permit holder

Issued by

Minister of Mines by arrêté (Code Art. 81)

Valid for

5 years, renewable for 3-year periods (Art. 81)

Fee

Grant FCFA 7,000,000; renewal FCFA 12,000,000 (Décret 2025-0331 Art. 12)

Decrees and statutes

Held by

SONASP (state gold buyer and single ASM export window)

Issued by

Government (Council of Ministers)

Valid for

permanent

Rate

Grant FCFA 1,000,000; renewal FCFA 1,500,000; annual flat royalty FCFA 2,000,000

Paid by

AEA holder

Gold of artisanal production

Rate

FCFA 100 per gram

Base

Weight of gold

Paid by

Seller of artisanal gold

Collected by

Public and private comptoirs collect it and pay it to SONASP for the State budget

Gold

Rate

3% below USD 1,000/oz; 4% USD 1,000-1,300; 5% above USD 1,300 ("London Metal Exchange (LME)" price); export through the State structure taxed at FCFA 200/g

Base

Turnover of the product extracted and sold

Paid by

Mining titleholders and private buying-and-export comptoirs

Industrial gold

Rate

3% below USD 1,000/oz; 4% 1,000-1,300; 5% 1,300-1,500; 6% 1,500-1,700; 6.5% 1,700-2,000; 7% above 2,000

Base

Value of gold at the price band

Paid by

Title holder

Gold from industrial and semi-mechanised mines and residue treatment

Rate

3% below USD 1,000/oz; 4% 1,000-<1,300; 5% 1,300-<1,500; 6% 1,500-<1,700; 6.5% 1,700-<2,000; 7% 2,000-<3,000; from USD 3,000/oz add 1% for each USD 500

Base

Turnover of the product extracted, sold, or extracted and sold (Décret 2025-0331 Art. 18); reference prices for precious metals "London Metal Exchange (LME)" (Art. 19)

Paid by

Holders of industrial and semi-mechanised exploitation titles and residue-treatment agréments (Art. 18)

Collected by

Declared to the Administration des mines; payable within 21 days of the weighing report (Art. 4); may be taken in kind (Art. 20)

Rate

1% of monthly turnover excluding tax

Base

Monthly turnover

Paid by

Holders of exploitation permits

Rate

Large mine FCFA 10,000,000/km²/yr (years 1-5), 15,000,000 (6-10), 20,000,000 (11+); small mine 4,000,000/7,000,000/10,000,000; semi-mechanised 1,500,000 (year 1), 3,000,000 after; AEA 1,500,000

Paid by

Title holder

Collected by

State; 20% to local authorities

Kind

Anti-money laundering

Valid from

2025-10-24

Kind

Other

Valid from

2017-05-18

Kind

Bar standard

Valid from

2025-04-03

Kind

Conflict-area due diligence

Kind

Currency control

Valid from

2025-04-01

Kind

Local refining requirement

Valid from

2025-04-03

Kind

Currency control

Valid from

2024-12-20

Kind

Other

Valid from

2024-07-31

Kind

Origin marking

Valid from

2018-10-24

Kind

Other

Threshold

500 g without declaration; 2,000 g maximum

Valid from

2018-10-24

Kind

State monopoly

Valid from

2025-04-08

Kind

Currency control

Threshold

FCFA 20 million (domiciliation); 500 g (temporary gold exports)

Valid from

2025-08-01

Kind

Sanctions

Kind

State monopoly

Valid from

2024-02-20

Kind

Anti-money laundering

Threshold

FCFA 5m (cash, DNFBP status); 9m (identification); 15m (cash reporting)

Valid from

2023-12-21

Kind

Cross-border declaration

Threshold

FCFA 3,000,000 (residents, foreign cash out of UEMOA); FCFA 500,000 (non-residents)

Valid from

2025-08-01

Kind

Cross-border declaration

Threshold

FCFA 1,000,000

Valid from

2010-10-01

Kind

Other

Valid from

2025-04-03

Kind

Currency control

Threshold

FCFA 10 million

Valid from

2010-10-01

Kind

Other

MEMC/BNAF 2023 report: SONASP collected 126.709 kg of artisanal and semi-mechanised gold; BUMIGEB controlled 391 ASM ingots (50,571 g fine) and made 294 weighing-and-packing missions at 11 industrial mines; 273 special export authorisations (ASE) for gold were issued; SONASP issued 211 artisan-collector cards; BNAF seized 10.076 kg of gold and 172.785 kg of fake gold bars.

Figures: 126.709 kg; 391 ingots / 50,571 g; 294 missions; 273 ASE; 211 cards; 10.076 kg seized

ITIE 2024 (DGD data): gold exports 64.15 t, FOB FCFA 2,787 billion; by destination Switzerland 40.55 t (63.2%), UAE 22.39 t (34.9%), South Africa 0.66 t, India 0.41 t, Rwanda 0.14 t; SONASP was the largest exporter with 22.53 t (35.1%). SONASP bought 18.56 t of fine gold in 2024 (11.19 t industrial, 7.37 t other), including 7,139,025 g of ASM gold (6,395,488 g from artisan-card holders, 743,537 g from comptoirs), 94,041 g from semi-mechanised producers and 124,916 g from residue treatment.

Figures: 64.15 t; CH 40.55 t; AE 22.39 t; SONASP exports 22.53 t; SONASP purchases 18.56 t fine

MEMC statistics for July-December 2025: fine-gold production 48,185.55 kg (industrial 27,252.19 kg; artisanal 20,853.87 kg against 4,227.55 kg in S2 2024; semi-mechanised 41.92 kg; residues 37.57 kg). SONASP collected 30,962.17 kg of raw gold (artisanal 22,801.26 kg, industrial 8,070.30 kg). BNAF seized 1.87 kg. Mining revenue FCFA 458.55 billion; Fonds minier de développement FCFA 50.62 billion. 22 valid industrial and 16 semi-mechanised exploitation permits; 7 AEAs.

Figures: S2 2025: 48.19 t fine gold; SONASP 30.96 t raw

Mining royalties collected in 2024 were FCFA 151.988 billion.

SONASP exported 22.53 t of gold in 2024, 35.1% of Burkina Faso's export volume, worth FCFA 878.65 billion. In 2024 it bought 8.094 t of ASM gold and 14.608 t of industrial gold (purchases, not a split of the exports). ASM production reached about 40 t by end-2025.

Figures: 2024 exports 22.53 t / FCFA 878.65bn / 35.1% of national exports; 2024 purchases 8.094 t ASM + 14.608 t industrial

SONASP collected 68.592 t from 2023 to 30 Sep 2025: 30.4 t industrial and 38.192 t artisanal (ASM 8.146 t in the 2023-24 period as reported, 29.546 t Jan-Sep 2025).

Figures: Industrial to SONASP: ~5 t (May-Dec 2023), 14 t (2024), 11.4 t (Jan-Sep 2025)

The ASM royalty is largely not reaching the Treasury on time: on SONASP's 2024 ASM purchases of 7,139,025 g the FCFA 100/g royalty would be about FCFA 714 million, but the Treasury (DGTCP) recorded FCFA 3.4 million for 2024 and SONASP declared FCFA 9.5 million; FCFA 669.96 million was paid over in 2025. No payment of the ad valorem royalty by semi-mechanised producers was found.

Figures: ~FCFA 714m due vs FCFA 3.4m recorded (2024); FCFA 669.96m paid in 2025

Of about 67 licensed comptoirs (2016) only around ten declared regular volumes; others were suspected of laundering or illegal exports.

[conflict] Issuer of the artisan miner card: Loi 016-2024/ALT Art. 238 says the public gold buyer (SONASP) issues it; Décret 2025-0376 Art. 8 says the Administration des mines issues a biometric card on the cooperative's request. The model follows the Code (higher norm; the BNAF 2023 report and press show SONASP issuing cards). Affects bf.cr-carte-artisan, bf.doc-carte-artisan.

[conflict] Règlement 06/2024/CM/UEMOA Art. 20 exempts from the Finance Minister's prior authorisation only Treasury/BCEAO operations, low-gold articles and travellers' objects up to 500 g, while its Annex X (third paragraph) states that mining companies holding an exploitation and export licence are exempt from the request. The model follows Annex X for industrial exporters (conditional step bf.st-50) and Art. 20 for SONASP (bf.st-41).

[conflict] Possession limit for raw gold: Décret 2018-0969 Arts 2-3 - 500 g without declaration (declared to the Administration des mines), 2,000 g maximum; Mines Actu (2025) reports a limit raised to 1,000 g by a 2024-2025 implementing decree that was not found on the MEMC listing; Code Art. 242 now sends declarations to the anti-fraud organ. The model follows the decree held. Affects bf.ctl-possession-limit.

Figures: 500 g / 2,000 g (decree) vs 1,000 g (press)

[conflict] Price reference for the gold royalty: Décret 2025-0331 Art. 19 names the "London Metal Exchange (LME)" for precious metals; Décret 2018-0970 Art. 4 bases the export invoice on the last London fixing (the LBMA price). [inferred] The LME does not publish the gold benchmark; both probably mean the London price. The model records the 2025 wording.

[conflict] Who numbers and initials comptoir registers: Code Art. 257 says the president of the competent commercial court; Décret 2025-0348 Art. 28 says the anti-fraud coordination organ (as Code Art. 250 does for semi-mechanised holders). The model records both; operators are safest having registers initialled as the decree requires and checking with the court. Affects bf.dk-comptoir-register, bf.st-10.

[conflict] Royalty due date: Décret 2025-0331 Art. 4 - within 21 days of the weighing report; Décret 2018-0970 Art. 5 - within 60 days of receipt of the assessment notice (bulletin de liquidation). The model follows Décret 2025-0331 (later, specific to royalties, repeals contrary provisions). Affects bf.st-24, bf.tax-royalty-2025.

[conflict] SONASP ASM collection in 2023: the MEMC/BNAF 2023 report states 126.709 kg of artisanal and semi-mechanised gold; Mines Actu reports 8.146 t for 2023. The model keeps both in trade flows; the official report is preferred for 2023.

Figures: 126.709 kg (BNAF) vs 8.146 t (press)

Declared ASM output was 0.1-0.5 t a year before 2024 against estimates of 20-25 t (OECD) or more; it jumped to about 8 t in 2024 and about 30 t in Jan-Sep 2025 after the export suspension, attributed to tighter border control and fear of terrorism-financing accusations.

Witnesses report buyers of several nationalities paying up to 50% over the local price, a sign of money laundering; lower tax in neighbours (Ghana cited) keeps a smuggling incentive.

At least 20 t of ASM gold left Burkina Faso clandestinely in 2024 (about USD 2.16 billion), mainly via Togo, Mali, Niger, Ghana, Benin and Côte d'Ivoire to the UAE; UAE declared imports from Togo of 20 t (2022) and 42 t (2023). A parliamentary inquiry put fraud at 15-30 t a year. The MEMC/BNAF 2023 report describes ASM gold assayed in illegal urban buying offices and carried clandestinely to Lomé and Bamako for Europe and Arab countries.

Figures: 20 t (2024); 15-30 t/yr