Information and Communications Technology development support in Burkina Faso

A pioneer in the sub-region, Burkina Faso adopted a national e-strategy in 2004 based on development of Information and Communications Technology (ICT). 12 years later, despite legal and institutional advances, the cyber-strategy has not produced the expected economic and social benefits. Indeed, only three sectorial strategies have so far been adopted (e-government, e-education and e-commerce), while the remaining two (e-health and social protection for the poor and e-services for the development of the rural world) are still awaiting approval. None of them have thus far been implemented.

The ICT Development Support in Burkina Faso project assists the Support Programme for the Improvement of Communication Infrastructure (PARICOM), whose management unit and executing agency is the National Promotion Agency for ICT (ANPTIC).

Within the framework of PARICOM, The ICT Development Support in Burkina Faso project contributes to the overall objective of improving the availability, efficiency and accessibility of electronic communication services provision throughout the territory. More specifically, it aims to improve the quality, reliability and accessibility of communication infrastructures, contributing to the achievement of the objectives set out in the National Plan for Economic and Social Development (PNDES) 2016–2020. Three results are defined that will contribute to achieving this goal.

The first objective is to enable ANPTIC to fulfil its mission of implementing the Government's ICT development projects and programmes.

The second result is the development of the RESINA+ telecommunications network. RESINA+ is the name of the proposed solution to strengthen the administration’s existing national computer network (RESINA) through satellite technology.

The third result is the delivery of sectorial gains using the capacities of ANPTIC and RESINA+.

The ICT Development Support in Burkina Faso project has the peculiarity of combining three levers of development: technological, organisational and institutional. Each of these levers is of strategic value for the Development Cooperation between the Governments of Burkina Faso and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg:

• technology provides independent access to the global internet network and opens up the country;
• the organisational leverage allows to support the creation and perpetuation of ANPTIC; and
• the institutional component enables the adopted cyber-strategies to be operationalised.