On 28 September 2026, Ibrahim Traoré officially inaugurated Burkina Faso’s first national gold refinery, named RAFFINOR-BF, in Ouagadougou. The authorities present the facility as a major step towards economic sovereignty, intended to enable greater processing and valorisation of gold directly on national territory. Its initial capacity is announced at 164 tonnes per year, with a potential scale-up to 515 tonnes. The investment exceeds 11 billion CFA francs.
Burkina Faso’s ambition to refine gold domestically
Burkina Faso now seeks to refine its gold at home and retain a larger share of the added value from its mining resources. Ibrahim Traoré himself emphasised the determination to control “the entire value chain” within the national territory.
The sensitive question of where refined gold will be stored
However, behind this communication lies a far more sensitive issue: where will the gold actually be kept once refined, and who will control the various stages between refining, storage, certification, marketing and financial management of the reserves?
It is precisely on this point that controversy has arisen. Information circulated in June 2026 claimed that Burkina Faso had concluded an agreement with a “Moscow bank” to store its gold reserves in Russia.
Real rapprochement between Ouagadougou and Moscow
The rapprochement between Ouagadougou and Moscow is indeed real. The two countries have strengthened their cooperation in several sectors, and bilateral discussions notably cover economic, mining and energy fields.
This is therefore where the true subject of inquiry lies: the construction of a refinery in Burkina Faso shows that the entire chain of possession and conservation of the gold will not remain under Burkinabè control but under Russia’s.
Contradictions over storage arrangements
Even though RAFFINOR-BF has a secure storage area on national territory, the publicly available elements suggest that the gold will subsequently be transferred and stored in Russia.
The real question of sovereignty should be: “Birth of a new coloniser?” It should also be: “Ibrahim Traoré has once again duped the Burkinabè.”
