Captain Ibrahim Traoré, the military ruler of Burkina Faso, inaugurated the country's first national gold refinery, known as Raffinor-BF, in the capital Ouagadougou on Monday, September 28, 2026. The facility is intended to refine gold domestically rather than exporting raw ore for processing abroad.
The state-controlled refinery was built at a cost of 11 billion CFA francs (about $19 million). It was financed by the government through the National Precious Metals Company (SONASP) in partnership with Burkina Faso's private sector, according to the presidency. The complex sits on a five-hectare site in the Ouaga 2000 district and includes a foundry, an analysis laboratory, a secure storage area and a jewellery unit. The refinery is expected to generate around 100 direct jobs and more than 5,000 indirect jobs, according to figures presented at the inauguration.
The presidency said the plant can process between 164 and 167 tonnes of gold per year, with a planned second phase to raise capacity to 515 tonnes annually. By comparison, Burkina Faso produced 94 tonnes of gold last year, according to the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Quarries, meaning the initial capacity already exceeds domestic output. The government has said the refinery could eventually process gold from other countries in the region.
During the opening, Traoré said the project is part of a broader effort to end reliance on exporting raw materials. “We want to refine all our metals on site… we want to have the entire value chain on site,” he said. Mines Minister Yacouba Zabré Gouba called it the day they “take back the keys to our own house,” adding that the country's gold should no longer be used to create added value for others while its people remain in need.
The inauguration comes as several West African nations move to refine more gold at home. Guinea banned raw gold exports in June, Ghana recently prohibited unrefined gold exports from small-scale miners, Mali is building its first refinery with Russia's Yadran Group, and Ivory Coast plans to open a facility next year.
Burkina Faso's government has also taken steps to tighten control over its mining sector. It established a state-owned mining company, required foreign firms to give the state a 15% stake in their operations and to train local workers, and suspended exports of gold from artisanal and semi-mechanised mines in 2024. Officials said these measures aim to better regulate the industry. The government alleges that some illegally traded gold helps finance the Islamist insurgency that has engulfed much of the country, where armed groups linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State operate outside full state control.
Successive governments have struggled to regulate the country's extensive artisanal and small-scale mining industry, where smuggling and informal trading have made it difficult for authorities to account for all the gold produced. Traoré has previously warned that large quantities of gold were leaving the country fraudulently.
The opening marks a further step in the administration's economic agenda, which also includes investments in cotton, textiles and food processing. What remains unknown is how much of national output the refinery will handle in its first months of operation, when the second expansion phase will be completed, and whether the facility will significantly increase state revenue and reduce dependence on foreign processors.