BURKINA FASO

UNCDF has been present in Burkina Faso since 1981, providing support to meet development objectives through several projects focusing on inclusive finance and local development.

Burkina Faso's efforts to develop its digital economy are currently focused on strengthening an enabling regulatory environment and supporting the private sector to further develop mass-market digital services in the telecommunications and financial sectors while building the necessary infrastructure. This will lay the foundations for the future growth of the innovation sector.

Burkina Faso was one of four countries that onboarded UNCDF's Inclusive Digital Economy Scorecard (IDES), a policy tool developed by UNCDF to help governments set the priorities for their countries’ digital transformation. It identifies the key market constraints hindering the development of an inclusive digital economy and helps to set the right priorities with public and private stakeholders, to foster a digital economy that leaves no one behind.

In 2020, UNCDF launched the TELBA programme to support the establishment of a guarantee mechanism for micro-, small- and medium-enterprises (MSMEs) in the agriculture, forestry, and renewable energy value chains. The objective of the programme is to facilitate access to finance for MSMEs involved in the aforementioned value chains. A mixed-financing approach using grants and formal credits along with technical support and provision of guarantees are some examples of the financial mechanisms involved. The aim is to support food security, income growth and employment for women and youth.

UNCDF is also currently implementing the Resilience Building and Innovation Support Program (PARI). Officially launched in November 2018 and scheduled to run until September 2021, the programme PARI is an initiative of the Government of Burkina Faso with technical and financial support from UNCDF and the Luxembourg Cooperation. It is part of the UNCDF global strategy to leave no one behind in the digital era and aims to make a sustainable contribution to increasing productivity and incomes by leveraging the potential of digital innovations to improve access to finance and economic opportunities for women, youth, farmers and MSMEs.

Complementary to PARI is the Clean Energy for People's Resilience (CE4PR) programme, which contributes to energy access solutions targeting agriculture productivity and related income-generating activities. These solutions are provided by energy service companies and accelerated by innovative business models and alternative financing solutions.

In the area of climate adaptation, Burkina Faso signed an agreement to deploy the Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility (LoCAL) to advance the Sahelian country’s efforts to build resilience and adapt to climate change. The agreement was reached at the COP26 Summit.