Burkina Faso

Due to new security challenges, the demand has risen for private security companies (PSCs) to supplement the activities of the public police and military forces. There are more than 60 PSCs currently operating in the country, but the number of PSC personnel is unknown. PSCs in Burkina Faso are regulated by Decree No. 2009-343 among several other pieces of legislation.

Main law regulating private security: DECREE NO. 343/2009 (TEXT NOT AVAILABLE)

Summary

Although considered as a harbor of peace in the Sahel region, events in Burkina Faso in recent years have raised the level of insecurity of the country: weapons have proliferated in Burkina Faso as a legacy from past conflicts in the region - in particular the collapse of the Qaddafi regime in Libya, a rise has been recorded in armed robberies, and the country has been victim to new terrorist threats. The need for private security services has greatly increased in the last few years due to the public forces no longer being able to cope with demand.

Legal Framework

The Burkina legal framework addresses private security companies (PSCs) but does not refer to private military and security companies (PMSCs). Since the regulation of PSCs was updated in 2009, PSCs operating Burkina Faso are regulated by Decree No. 2009-343. The Decree is supported by other instruments, notably Law No. 032-2003 on internal security and Decree No. 2011-0194 establishing the requirements for opening an institution providing training in private security.

Challenges

Key issues nevertheless remain in the sector. Training imposed on the PSC personnel for example often prove absent or insufficient, affecting the security of all those involved. The sector has also been reported as largely violating labor laws and offering poor working conditions, heightening risks of accidents in the workplace (for example due to fatigue, insufficient and inadequate training or inappropriate equipment), or of deliberate misconduct by employees, such as cases of corruption or theft.

Members of the Private Security Governance Observatory

• Organisation pour le Renforcement des Capacités de Développement (ORCADE)

[i] Jean-Pierre Bayala, “Burkina Faso,” in Security Sector Governance in Francophone West Africa: Realities and Opportunities, edited by Alan Bryden and Boubacar N’Diaye, Geneva: Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed  Forces, 2011, 52.