Gold Output Falls in Burkina Faso as Terrorist Attacks Increase
- Production fell 1.5% to 57.3 tons in 2023 from year earlier
- Country recorded world’s highest terrorism deaths in 2023
A gold mine in Burkina Faso.
Photographer: Issouf Sanogo/AFP/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Gold production in Burkina Faso declined last year as deteriorating security conditions in the West African nation forced some mines to shut.
An Islamist insurgency in the Sahel, a semi-arid region stretching across the continent from Senegal to Sudan, has hit hard in Burkina Faso, which also suffered two military coups in 2022. The country — ruled by Captain Ibrahim Traore for the past 18 months — accounted for almost a quarter of people killed in terrorist attacks globally last year, according to Sydney-based Institute for Economics & Peace.