Small Scale Business Ideas & Opportunities in Burkina Faso, Africa. Start Small and Medium-Sized Businesses in Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso may not be high on your list of places to start a business, but it’s worth looking into. The World Bank’s Doing Business 2013 report ranked Burkina Faso as 46th out of 183 countries for ease of doing business, and GEM 2010 reported that only 5 percent of its population is unemployed. Small businesses can go far here, with little formal regulation or restrictions on home-based operations. Burkina Faso has low electricity costs, low transportation costs and no taxes on businesses owned by foreign investors. Burkina Faso is one of Africa’s fastest growing economies with annual growth averaging 5% since 2000. With its strategic location, landlocked between Côte d’Ivoire and Mali, it has access to abundant natural resources and produces cotton, gold, manganese and uranium. Recent discoveries of offshore oil reserves could prove to be another driver for economic growth over coming years.