Burkina Faso’s gold industry has changed dramatically since Captain Ibrahim Traoré took power in September 2022. Production has risen, more artisanal gold is passing through official channels and the state has rewritten mining rules to secure a bigger share of one of the country’s most valuable resources.
But the widely circulated claim that Traoré’s government has ‘earned $18bn from gold’ needs an important qualification.
The available figures point instead to something different: roughly $18bn represents the scale of Burkina Faso’s gold exports over the period, not money collected directly by the government.
Where the $18bn comes from
Gold dominates Burkina Faso’s exports.
IMF data on Burkina Faso’s external sector put gold exports at about CFA2.41tn ($3.98bn) in 2023 and CFA2.97tn ($5.11bn) in 2024. In its 2026 assessment, the Fund projected 2025 gold exports at around CFA4.62tn ($7.95bn).
Together, those three years account for close to CFA10tn ($17bn) in gold exports. Once exports from the final months of 2022 are added, the origins of the roughly $18bn figure become clearer.
But export value is not government revenue. It includes gold sold by mining companies and other producers before taxes, royalties, operating costs and profits are accounted for.
That distinction updates an earlier Africa Briefing report on Burkina Faso’s reported $18bn gold windfall, which described the figure as government earnings.
Gold production climbs
There is little doubt, however, that Burkina Faso’s gold production has risen sharply.
Official figures put output at about 60.8 tonnes in 2024.
For 2025, the government said production exceeded 94 tonnes, including a significant contribution from artisanal and semi-mechanized miners.
A Burkina Faso mining ministry statistical bulletin for 2025 gives a slightly lower total of 90.76 tonnes of fine gold.
The official records do not explain the difference. The safest conclusion is that Burkina Faso produced more than 90 tonnes in 2025, while the government’s broader national figure puts output above 94 tonnes.
What stands out is the rise in artisanal production. Fine gold from artisanal sources climbed from 4.23 tonnes in the second half of 2024 to 20.85 tonnes in the same period of 2025.
That suggests part of the production surge came from gold previously outside official channels being captured in the formal system.
State revenues rise
The government has also succeeded in collecting considerably more from the sector.
The mining ministry recorded CFA838.1bn ($1.44bn) in total mining receipts during 2025. Of that, about CFA677.7bn ($1.17bn) went into the state budget, while the Mining Development Fund collected around CFA85.7bn ($148m).
Those numbers show a substantial increase in the state’s take. But they also demonstrate why describing $18bn as government revenue would be misleading.
Traoré’s government has meanwhile changed the rules governing mining.
The 2024 Burkina Faso Mining Code increased the state’s automatic free stake in mining companies from 10 percent to 15 percent, while gold royalties can rise to 7 percent when prices exceed $2,000 an ounce.
Truthng has previously examined Burkina Faso’s growing state role in the gold industry.
The strategy took another step forward in September 2026 when the country opened its first national gold refinery, with an initial theoretical capacity of 164 tonnes a year.
