As Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed following her meeting with President Roch Marc Kaboré, Burkina Faso is currently undertaking reforms at different levels, both in the economic sphere and as part of a drive to decentralise.

Economic support

That is why Germany intends to support the country and step up cooperation, particularly within the scope of the "Compact with Africa".

The "Compact with Africa" was launched under Germany’s G20 Presidency in 2017. Key actors include the African states themselves, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the African Development Bank. They implement individual reform programmes with possible additional inputs from G20 partners.

Twelve countries have signed up for the "Compact with Africa": Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal, Togo and Tunisia.

Security-policy cooperation

Within the scope of security measures too, Germany is to step up its support for Burkina Faso in future.

In view of the terrorist activities in Burkina Faso, particularly along its border to Mali, the German government intends to deliver advisory support for the African state, said Angela Merkel.

She pointed to the importance of the G5 Sahel Group’s joint interventions force established last year, and explained that Germany has already provided its financial contribution to this initiative. Now it is crucial that the intervention force ("force conjointe") gets off the ground, because it is urgently needed.

The Chancellor announced a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, which is to discuss further measures. 

President Kaboré, who currently chairs the G5 Sahel Group, also declared his intention of calling for further support for the initiative. A meeting of the ministers of foreign affairs is crucially importance to raise the visibility of the initiative, he said.

The G5 Sahel states (Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania and Chad) founded a regional body in 2014, with a view to addressing transnational challenges such as terrorism and organised crime together. In February 2017 they decided to set up a joint intervention force, the "force conjointe".
In February 2018 Germany, France and the EU presented the joint Sahel Alliance Initiative, which is to provide support for military engagement in the Sahel and provide assistance to ensure civilian safety and security. Alongside military and development cooperation, the EU is providing support for the Sahel countries in the form of a political partnership.