Burkina Faso has begun a new chapter in its gold industry after President Captain Ibrahim Traoré commissioned the country’s first refinery, giving the major gold producer a facility to process its mineral locally and reduce reliance on overseas refining.
Traoré officially opened the RAFFINOR-BF plant on September 28, 2026, during a ceremony at its five-hectare site in the Ouaga 2000 district of Ouagadougou.
The facility has an initial capacity of 164 tonnes of gold a year, with plans for a second phase that will raise its annual processing capacity to 515 tonnes.
RAFFINOR-BF will handle doré gold from both industrial and artisanal mines and turn it into fine gold bars with a purity level of 99.9 per cent.
The plant has been fitted with a foundry, laboratory, secure storage facilities and a jewellery workshop, allowing several gold-related activities to take place within Burkina Faso.
At the commissioning ceremony, Traoré received the first gold bar to be fully refined inside the country.
The project was built at a cost of 11 billion CFA francs, equivalent to about Sh2.46 billion. Funding came from the state through the National Precious Substances Company (SONASP), working together with private partners.
Officials estimate that the refinery will provide about 100 direct jobs and more than 5,000 indirect employment opportunities.
Plant to expand with rising production
RAFFINOR-BF has been designed to allow its operations to grow as gold production increases.
Managing Director Adama Sawadogo said the plant's modular structure would make it possible to add more processing lines when needed.
The facility will also enable Burkina Faso to conduct refining, assaying and certification within its borders. These activities have largely been carried out outside the country, meaning much of the gold has previously been exported in doré form before further processing.
Local processing is also expected to give authorities better oversight of the gold trade.
Officials say the refinery will improve the tracking of gold and provide clearer information about the quantity and quality of the mineral produced by the country's mines.
An official statement issued after the ceremony said: “On September 28, 2026, the President of Faso, Captain Ibrahim TRAORÉ, inaugurated RAFFINOR-BF, Burkina Faso’s first gold refinery. With an initial capacity of 164 tons/year, it marks a major milestone toward national mastery of the gold value chain.”
Gold remains the leading source of foreign exchange for Burkina Faso and is a major part of its economy.
The country produced between 94 and 100.7 tonnes of gold in 2025. Industrial mines accounted for about 58 tonnes, with the output coming from 15 mines, while artisanal and semi-mechanised operations produced more than 42 tonnes.
The importance of the mineral has continued into 2026.
Gold made up nearly 94 per cent of Burkina Faso's export earnings during the first seven months of the year, placing it well ahead of cotton.
Industrial mines produced 31.857 tonnes by the end of July 2026, an increase of 12.8 per cent from the amount recorded over the same period in 2025.
With much of the country's gold previously leaving as unrefined doré, the new plant is intended to bring more of the processing work inside Burkina Faso.
Wider changes in mining sector
The refinery is also part of broader reforms in Burkina Faso's mining industry since Traoré took power in 2022.
The government has increased its free-carried stake in mining projects from 10 per cent to 15 per cent.
It has also created the state mining company SOPAMIB as part of changes to the management and development of the country's mineral resources.
The move to process gold locally comes as Kenya is also pursuing plans to increase domestic mineral processing.
President William Ruto said in September that Kenya would stop exporting unprocessed gold and require the mineral to be processed locally.
He said the government was developing refineries, including one in Kakamega, as part of efforts to retain more value from minerals extracted in the country.
“We want the gold that is being mined in Kenya to be processed in Kenya, and we want the Central Bank of Kenya to be the first point of sale for gold that is coming from Kenya,” Ruto said.
For Burkina Faso, the opening of RAFFINOR-BF provides a new facility for handling more of the country's gold production locally, from refining and testing to certification and storage.