2024-07-01 10:16:41
• “We are committed to the economic front”, Idrissa Nassa
• “More opportunities for AES”, Mahamadi Savadogo, President of CCI-BF
• Burkina Faso Investment Agency (ABI): “We offer quality products made in Burkina Faso”
largeA 7Egypt The Second International Forum for African Development (FIAD 2024) opened on June 27, 2024 in Casablanca, Morocco. More than 30,000 businesses, company owners and investors gathered for two days around the theme “Here we invest”. 11 guest countries and a strong delegation from the African Continental Free Trade Area (Zlecaf) were present as guest stars. Burkina Faso was not excluded. In addition to representatives of the Burkina Faso Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Mahamadi Savadogo), employers (Idrissa Nassa), the Director of the Burkina Faso Investment Agency (DG representative), owners of private companies. Madeleine Dieng, director of the Burkina Faso branch of the CBAO and member of the Attijariwafa banking group, led the delegation. The Faso Economist extended the microphone to some of them. Read instead.
Jean-Marie Tho: Director ACIT
Our company is a civil engineering design office and also a laboratory. As part of our activities, we carry out control studies of road infrastructure works, buildings and hydraulic structures, aero-pavements, and provide training. Since we also have a laboratory, we are involved in everything related to material quality control, implementation, soil studies, etc. ACIT has been accredited to 9SO 2001 2015 version since March 25, 2024, and our goal, especially for our laboratory, is to obtain ISO 2001 027 certification, i.e. laboratory accreditation.
Our expectations, especially everything related to our laboratory activities, our suppliers of laboratory equipment are mainly in France, and due to the situation we are going through, it is increasingly difficult to supply ourselves in this country, we are here in Morocco looking for new opportunities to continue our work, this opportunity given to us by FIAD will help solve this problem. I have already met with partners in Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Morocco and Tunisia to solve the problem of equipment for our laboratories.
Are there any expectations or requirements from the bank CBAO that supports you?
The most important thing is to listen to our voice more. I recognize that it supported us between 2018 and 2022. For some of our projects in the risk area, the bank hesitated to support us, but in the end, it returned with a better feeling and we hope that the relationship will improve and strengthen.
Idrissa Nassa, Employers Chairperson
“We came to Casablanca to participate in the forum organized by Attijariwafa. It brings together several businessmen and institutions. The purpose of our presence is to market Burkina Faso and to ensure that investors have a better understanding of what is happening in Burkina Faso, because certain media tend to scare people and prevent investors from coming to Burkina Faso to invest. So we try to convey the right message and the right version to reassure people that Burkina Faso is a country where we can still invest, that Burkina Faso is a country that is doing well despite the crisis, and that the authorities of the country are willing to support investors who want to invest in Burkina Faso. We have a very attractive investment code and we have a very generous base potential. So our goal is to present Burkina Faso better to attract future investors, which will create jobs for young people, business opportunities for our small and medium-sized enterprises, ensure that the economy remains vibrant, because you know, in the crisis situation that we are in, we also have to wage an economic war and we are on the economic front. We are making sure that the country is on a firm footing economically and that we can continue to create jobs and promote economic development.
The theme of this forum is “Here We Invest”, what do employers in Casablanca offer?
Employers can offer everything. In Africa, we invest, so we make investors understand that if there is one region we must invest in today, it is the AES region, because we are a region where traditional investors are leaving, so they leave behind huge opportunities and opportunities. We want Africans to come and invest in us and even other countries, and those who want to respect our sovereignty and dignity are welcome to join us to replace those who tend to leave.
Mahamadi Sawadogo, Chairman of CCI-BF
“You know this forum has been held for seven sessions.Egypt The edition and CCI-BF have always been invited by the Attijariwafa Group, which, through its subsidiary in Burkina Faso, already has partnerships with quite a few companies in the country. On the occasion of this forum, the Burkina Faso CBAO invited not only the President of the institution, but also entrepreneurs. Since it is a group spread across several countries, it means that all these countries and their business leaders and businessmen come together for not only connections between businesses, but more. This morning, we were together with the Presidents of the Chambers of Commerce of Niger, Senegal, Benin and the sub-region to discuss our common interests as an institution. In addition, as business leaders, we have established partnerships with other business leaders in Morocco. This is what this forum is all regarding.
Has the creation of AES opened up more opportunities for you?
Of course, as you know, AES provides openness, and these three countries become one region. If before, these countries were considered to be stronger once they were united, and we as business leaders, we established in these two countries and cooperated with AES, it only strengthened our ties.
We held a working meeting with the Director of the West Africa Region of the CBAO Group, and the agenda was to strengthen the capacity of the CBAO Burkina Faso Bank to be able to participate in the financing of the Burkina Faso economy, both in the private sector. and the public sector. We pleaded in the presence of the Governor of Burkina Faso, Madeleine Dieng, for the bank to have more capacity to intervene in the economy of Burkina Faso, and I think our request was heard and we hope that in the coming days we will see action on the ground from the bank.
Steve Phillipe SAVADOGO: Head of Investor Prospecting, Burkina Faso Investment Agency (ABI)
“It must be said that the participation of the Burkina Faso Investment Agency in the forum was a matter of great concern to us, since the delegation had to be led by the Director-General of the institution and he had to postpone his trip due to strict restrictions at the last minute. WeEgypt The forums we attend, we were even the guest of honor in 2019, so that means it’s a forum where we no longer have to show consideration. Every time we come, we have the opportunity to engage with very interesting prospects and continue discussions with them. We are still converting these contacts into valid investors.
As in the previous editions, the first day was a great success for me not only in terms of organization, but also in terms of business meetings, because I got to reach out to people who are interested in the business environment in Burkina Faso and see to what extent they can gain a foothold in Burkina Faso. We will continue with the same dynamism in order to have as many investors as possible.
ABI is a showcase platform for investors in Burkina Faso. What do you offer investors in Casablanca?
Above all, I would say that we offer quality made in Burkina Faso. Our particularity in Burkina Faso lies first of all in human capital, we offer this capable human capital, in addition to a favourable regulatory framework for investments for investors. We have one of the most competitive investment codes in West Africa since its re-revised in 2018, and we also have several support structures established by the State for the private sector to facilitate the installation and supervision of investors. In the dynamic vision recently expressed by the Head of State, the current keyword is endogenous development. That is, we develop our own industry in order to reduce dependence on the outside world and guarantee the sovereignty of the country. The mission of ABI is to mobilize national investors, but also investors from the sub-region, and then further, without forgetting overseas investors.
Interviews conducted by ESS
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Message from the Director General of CBAO to the Delegation
GermanyDuring the forum, the new CBAO General Director, Rachid El Bouzidi, met with a delegation of Burkinabe businessmen, in front of whom the current Governor of the Bank of Dakar wanted to guarantee the future of the relationship between the CBAO and its clients.
“I hope you have a good trip, I am happy to welcome you to your country, we are very honored and proud to host you, we will always be grateful for your presence and I hope that for those who come for the first time, may it not be the last time, as we always say, Allah. In addition to the formal part of the meeting, we are willing to accompany you not only where you are, but also in the countries of your export partners, throughout the territory and all our countries of origin. You are the focus of our attention, both in top management and all our colleagues,” he declared to the dozen Burkinabe entrepreneurs present.
Madeleine Dieng, Director of CBAO Burkina Faso, confirms that “the Attijariwafa Group and CBAO have strong ambitions for Burkina Faso. Today, we will do more to support Burkinabe entrepreneurs, we are listening to them and this is the message we want to convey. Today, customer dignity is something concrete for us and I say I am fully willing to study these documents for you to see how we can better support them.”
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