First gold refinery opened

Burkina Faso has opened its first gold refinery, pushing ahead with plans to better organise the commercialisation of the precious metal in one of the continent's top producers, reports africanews. The west African nation is the continent's third leading gold producer, churning out more than 94 tonnes of the precious metal last year, according to the World Gold Council. But authorities traditionally struggle to control the informal gold mining sector, which has been blighted by jihadist violence and smuggling. 'Burkina Faso has reached a historic milestone in its quest for economic independence,' the Presidency said. Under Captain Ibrahim Traore, who seized power in a 2022 coup, Burkina Faso has nationalised several gold mines and launched a push to revitalise the country's industrial output, from cotton to tomatoes and textiles. The authoritarian leader – who inaugurated the refinery in the capital Ouagadougou – has pushed an agenda of domestically driven and anti-Western policies with the proclaimed aim of reclaiming national sovereignty. Traore had warned that vast quantities of gold were leaving the country ‘fraudulently’, which ‘helps to fuel terrorism’. Gold, seen as a safe haven investment, has hit record prices in recent months in a lucrative market that fuels different forms of trafficking, including for jihadists in the Sahel region.