Burkina Faso is confirming in 2026 its determined will to make digital technology a pillar of its sovereignty and development. The Ministry of Digital Transition, Posts and Electronic Communications approved, during the second ordinary session of its sectoral board of directors, an annual work plan with a budget of 61 billion CFA francs nearly 109.4 million dollars.
This amount literally doubles the 2025 envelope of around 30.4 billion CFA francs, reflecting a deliberate acceleration of the national effort in favour of digital transformation.
The plan, comprising 156 activities, unfolds across several strategic fronts. It notably provides for the extension of 270 additional kilometres of fibre optic cable, strengthening a national network that already exceeds 11,292 kilometres.
Above all, it aims to connect 750 “white zones” localities so far deprived of any coverage out of some 1,700 identified across the country to mobile networks and high-speed internet.
This effort forms part of the government’s “Zero White Zones by 2027” initiative, jointly driven by the state, through the Universal Service Access Fund (FASU) and the Digital Transformation Acceleration Project (PactDigital), and by operators Onatel, Orange Burkina Faso and Telecel, each called upon to co-finance infrastructure on equal terms with public authorities.
Beyond connectivity, the programme provides for the operationalisation of mini-datacentres, the digitisation of 100 administrative procedures and the construction of “citizen houses” all levers intended to bring the administration closer to the population, including in the most remote areas.
The government thus displays a clear ambition: to position Burkina Faso as a leading African player in integrating information technologies in the service of education, health, trade and agriculture.
In a demanding security and economic context, this massive investment deserves to be welcomed as an act of faith in the future: that of a country refusing to endure the digital divide and choosing, with determination, to build the technological foundations of its sovereignty and emergence.
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