Getting to know the Conseil National du Patronat Burkinabé

From 8 to 10 February a DECP delegation consisting of Jean-Marie Standaert and Bram Van Overbeeke carried out a fact-finding mission to Burkina Faso. The objective was to get to know the Conseil National du Patronat Burkinabe (CNPB) and identify possible areas of cooperation. The delegation found the CNPB to be a relatively well-organised and efficiënt employers' organisation. However, it has to operate in a difficult and quite challenging business environment. Among the many problems entrepreneurs are facing are a lack of  access to (micro) credit, in particular for SME's, high taxes, a high cost of production factors like energy and water, too few members paying their membership fees and an underdeveloped regional network.

DECP has offered to contact specialised financial institutions with a view to alleviate the access to credit problem. To improve the communication with members and the government DECP is willing to organise a workshop for the leadership of the professional associations members of CNPB. In order to further develop Burkina's agro-industry DECP will contact PUM (The Hague) and the CBI (Rotterdam) and seek their specialised assistance.