Burkina Faso rewrites 33-year-old law to protect strategic state enterprises from privatization

Burkina Faso has rewritten a 33-year-old law to prohibit the full or partial privatisation of state-owned enterprises classified as strategic, while giving the government greater authority to take stakes in private businesses considered essential to national interests.

Burkina Faso's People’s Legislative Assembly adopted the new legislation unanimously on October 19, 2026, with all 71 lawmakers voting in favour, according to the parliament’s official announcement.

The reform revises a law enacted on December 20, 1993, which established the framework for identifying strategic companies and protecting them from privatisation.

Industry, Trade and Crafts Minister Serge Gnaniodem Poda said the earlier legislation had become inadequate as the country’s economic and institutional circumstances changed.

The government therefore sought to strengthen protections for enterprises considered important to national sovereignty and economic development, according to Burkina Faso’s state news agency, AIB.

Government expands control over strategic businesses

The new law introduces five criteria for determining whether an enterprise qualifies as strategic: national sovereignty, contribution to economic development and social stability, national security, monopoly status and public-service obligations.

Burkina Faso's People’s Legislative Assembly has given the government expanded authority to acquire or increase stakes in private businesses considered vital to national interests. (Image: Agence France-Presse (AFP)

The list of covered enterprises will be established by a decree adopted by the Council of Ministers and may be updated as circumstances change, the People’s Legislative Assembly said.

Beyond banning the privatisation of designated state-owned strategic enterprises, the legislation allows the government to acquire shares in private companies operating in strategic sectors or increase existing holdings.

Certain major financial commitments, contracts involving strategic resources and decisions that could interrupt strategic activities will also require prior government authorisation.

The law further allows some strategic economic activities to be reserved for domestic operators when the public interest requires it. It also introduces protections for the assets of designated enterprises, including provisions making them legally immune from seizure under the conditions specified in the legislation.

Poda said the reform was not intended to reverse every privatisation carried out in previous decades, but to provide stronger safeguards for businesses deemed essential to the country’s economic and industrial sovereignty, according to Burkina Faso’s news outlet Burkina 24.

The legislation reflects the government’s wider emphasis on economic sovereignty under Captain Ibrahim Traoré. However, its immediate effect on investors will depend on which companies are ultimately classified as strategic and how the implementing regulations are applied.

The government has yet to publish the final list of enterprises covered by the new framework.

Burkina Faso has rewritten a 33-year-old law to prohibit the full or partial privatisation of state-owned enterprises classified as strategic, while giving the government greater authority to take stakes in private businesses considered essential to national interests.

Burkina Faso's People’s Legislative Assembly adopted the new legislation unanimously on October 19, 2026, with all 71 lawmakers voting in favour, according to the parliament’s official announcement.

The reform revises a law enacted on December 20, 1993, which established the framework for identifying strategic companies and protecting them from privatisation.

Industry, Trade and Crafts Minister Serge Gnaniodem Poda said the earlier legislation had become inadequate as the country’s economic and institutional circumstances changed.

The government therefore sought to strengthen protections for enterprises considered important to national sovereignty and economic development, according to Burkina Faso’s state news agency, AIB.

Government expands control over strategic businesses

The new law introduces five criteria for determining whether an enterprise qualifies as strategic: national sovereignty, contribution to economic development and social stability, national security, monopoly status and public-service obligations.

Burkina Faso's People’s Legislative Assembly has given the government expanded authority to acquire or increase stakes in private businesses considered vital to national interests. (Image: Agence France-Presse (AFP)

The list of covered enterprises will be established by a decree adopted by the Council of Ministers and may be updated as circumstances change, the People’s Legislative Assembly said.

Beyond banning the privatisation of designated state-owned strategic enterprises, the legislation allows the government to acquire shares in private companies operating in strategic sectors or increase existing holdings.

Certain major financial commitments, contracts involving strategic resources and decisions that could interrupt strategic activities will also require prior government authorisation.

The law further allows some strategic economic activities to be reserved for domestic operators when the public interest requires it. It also introduces protections for the assets of designated enterprises, including provisions making them legally immune from seizure under the conditions specified in the legislation.

Poda said the reform was not intended to reverse every privatisation carried out in previous decades, but to provide stronger safeguards for businesses deemed essential to the country’s economic and industrial sovereignty, according to Burkina Faso’s news outlet Burkina 24.

The legislation reflects the government’s wider emphasis on economic sovereignty under Captain Ibrahim Traoré. However, its immediate effect on investors will depend on which companies are ultimately classified as strategic and how the implementing regulations are applied.

The government has yet to publish the final list of enterprises covered by the new framework.