The formal credit sector in Burkina Faso includes licensed banks and SFDs, including microfinance providers. Credit agreements in CFA francs normally regulate repayment, interest, fees, duration, collateral or guarantees, and the consequences of arrears. Before taking out a loan, borrowers should therefore assess the total repayment, the monthly burden, possible consequences of late payment, and the risk to collateral or guarantors. For lower-income and rural households, decentralized financial institutions (SFDs) play a central role. Informal debt can arise, for example, from loans from family or friends, tontines, and other savings or lending groups. These arrangements often exist outside the formal financial sector and do not automatically have a uniform legal status. A 2024 Findex Burkina Faso survey reported that 23.1 percent of 212 valid respondents had borrowed from an informal savings club during the previous twelve months. This figure describes only the survey sample and not a nationwide frequency. For informal loans, written details of the amount, date, and repayment are helpful because oral agreements can later be difficult to prove. If problems arise with a bank or SFD loan, the debtor should contact the creditor early and request a rescheduling, a new payment deadline, or an agreement in writing. All payments, messages, and agreements should be kept. Complaints initially follow the internal route at the lender or SFD; depending on the institution, a professional association, ministry, or the UMOA Banking Commission (Commission Bancaire) may then be responsible. The credit information bureau (CIB) and CREDITINFO WEST AFRICA process credit information. Affected persons can request correction of inaccurate data from the credit information service (CREDITINFO WEST AFRICA) or from the creditor. The shared database contained 17,334,330 customers as of December 31, 2024, including 16,993,816 individuals and 370,514 legal entities; however, public data integration for Burkina Faso and Mali was not yet complete, so complete local coverage should not be assumed. For judicial recovery in the OHADA area, the simplified procedures and enforcement rules of the legal act amended in 2024 apply to new proceedings since February 16, 2024. Creditors may request, among other measures, an order for payment or delivery, a provisional attachment, the sale of attached property, an attachment of claims, and, depending on the applicable law, an attachment of wages or real estate. A claim must generally be certain, quantified, and due. Courts and bailiffs carry out the respective procedural steps; duration and costs depend on the case and procedure. OHADA law provides procedures for certain companies and natural persons conducting business, including an amicable settlement, preventive settlement (règlement préventif), judicial restructuring, and liquidation of assets. These rules apply, among others, to merchants, entrepreneurs (entreprenants), private-law legal entities, and public enterprises organized under private law. A nationwide procedure for general debt relief for ordinary private households or a uniform state debt-advice service has not been established for Burkina Faso. For private debts, direct negotiations, mediation by family or a group, complaints to the formal creditor, and the applicable judicial means of defense therefore remain decisive, depending on the case. Public debt concerns mainly the state budget, the Treasury, and regional financing. Public debt was estimated at 8,029.6 billion CFA francs at the end of 2024 and at 8,311.2 billion CFA francs in June 2025; debt service amounted to 722.41 billion CFA francs in June 2025. External debt service represented 8.2 percent of budget revenues. A joint debt sustainability analysis by the IMF and IDA in 2025 assessed the risk from external and total public debt as moderate and medium-term sustainability as adequate, but with limited room for shocks. Risks include the security situation, fiscal deviations, dependence on the gold sector, and refinancing and liquidity pressures. The share of external debt was reported as 44.5 percent for 2024; the debt-to-GDP ratio was estimated at 56.9 percent for 2024 and projected at 54.0 percent for 2027. Burkina Faso increasingly finances itself through the regional securities market of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), using treasury bills and bonds, making maturities and the refinancing of maturing debt particularly relevant.
Debt in Burkina Faso
Debt in Burkina Faso arises from formal loans, public financing, payment arrears, or informal lending. Banks and SFDs, that is, decentralized financial institutions, operate with contracts, interest, fees, collateral, and repayment periods; family loans and tontines often follow personal or community arrangements. When payment problems arise, possible responses include negotiations, complaints, judicial recovery, or, depending on the debtor, an OHADA procedure for business restructuring or liquidation.
Tip
Do not compare only the amount paid out; also compare the total repayment, fees, collateral, duration, and consequences of late payment. If arrears already exist, act early and record every agreement and payment in writing. Informal loans require particularly clear evidence because a uniform advice and debt-relief route for private households in Burkina Faso has not been established.