Burkina Faso Soon a Biofuel Producer

Last month, the Ministry of Agriculture, Hydropower, and Marine Resources and the French company AgroEd signed a framework agreement for developing a biofuels industry in Burkina Faso.

All entire process will take place in Burkina, from the cultivation of plants (cotton, Jatropha, etc.) to the production of fuel.
This idea has been greeted with enthusiasm by more than one person. Biofuel experts believe that, “Africa has a real chance to enter this industry, which is profitable now especially with the price of oil, rising day by day,” [FR] writes journalist Alban Kini.

However, many netizens have expressed skepticism about whether Burkina Faso can become a competitive producer of biofuels, and whether ordinary people, in particular the farmers, will benefit.

While Burkina is rich in primary materials like mangos, cotton, and cassava, and already has once factory producing ethanol, the country has limited infrastructure at its disposal. In light of this, when I wrote about biofuels [FR] on my blog earlier this month, one reader was skeptical about the project’s prospects:

Global Voices Online