Burkina Faso: technology regulation at a glance

Framework: BCEAO (Central Bank of West African States) regional monetary oversight via UEMOA membership; no Burkina Faso-specific crypto law; BCEAO C-CRYPTO committee developing UEMOA-wide digital-asset framework; BCEAO Instruction N°001-01-2024 on payment services

Burkina Faso has enacted no dedicated cryptocurrency or digital-asset legislation. As a member of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA/WAEMU), its monetary policy is governed by the BCEAO, which has issued risk warnings about crypto-assets, established a dedicated C-CRYPTO committee to design a region-wide regulatory framework, and hosted an international conference in Dakar on the topic in May 2026. Crypto trading and mining are neither explicitly authorised nor banned at the national level, creating a legal grey zone while the regional framework develops.

Framework: No dedicated AI law in force; National AI Action Plan 2026-2028 under development by the Ministry of Digital Transition, Postal and Electronic Communications; data protection governed by Law No. 001-2021/AN administered by the Commission de l'Informatique et des Libertés (CIL)

Burkina Faso has no dedicated AI legislation in force as of mid-2026. The Ministry of Digital Transition, Postal and Electronic Communications launched a consultative national workshop in August 2025 to draft the country's first National AI Action Plan (2026-2028), which explicitly includes development of legal and ethical AI frameworks as one of its six pillars. In the interim, AI-adjacent issues are addressed through the 2021 personal data protection law and a 2024 cybersecurity law.

Framework: Law No. 001-2021/AN of 30 March 2021 on the Protection of Individuals with Regard to the Processing of Personal Data; supervised by the Commission de l'Informatique et des Libertés (CIL)

Burkina Faso has a comprehensive personal data protection regime anchored in Law No. 001-2021/AN, which replaced the original 2004 law and governs all processing of personal data by public and private entities. The Commission de l'Informatique et des Libertés (CIL), operational since 2007, is the independent supervisory authority, the first of its kind in Francophone sub-Saharan Africa. A further update, Law No. 2024/017 of 23 December 2024, was adopted by the transitional legislature, though implementing decrees are still pending.

Framework: BCEAO (Central Bank of West African States) under the WAEMU/UMOA Uniform Banking Law; Instruction n°001-01-2024 of 23 January 2024 on payment services governs payment institutions, e-money establishments and payment service providers across all member states including Burkina Faso.

Digital payments and fintech in Burkina Faso are regulated regionally by the BCEAO, not by a stand-alone national law. A clear licensing regime is in force: under Instruction n°001-01-2024 (effective 23 January 2024) all payment service providers must hold a BCEAO authorisation, with the transition period ending and unlicensed operation prohibited from 1 September 2025. The BCEAO also launched a union-wide interoperable instant-payment platform (PI-SPI) on 30 September 2025.

Framework: Entry, stay and exit of foreigners governed by national immigration law (amended by parliament February 2024); administered by the Direction Générale de la Police Nationale (DGPN) and Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Security; e-visa portal at visaburkina.bf

Burkina Faso has no dedicated digital nomad or remote-work visa. Remote workers employed abroad may enter on a short-stay visa for up to 90 days; longer stays require a long-stay visa (categories include business, study, investment, and exchange) followed by a residence permit (Carte de Séjour). Work permits are employer-sponsored and are required only for local employment, meaning purely foreign-income remote workers occupy a legal grey zone beyond 90 days. No golden visa or investment-residency programme exists.

Framework: Law n°014-2024 on Information Systems Security (ANSSI); Law n°040-2017/AN on cybercrime suppression; Law n°010-2004 on Personal Data Protection (CIL); Superior Council for Communication (CSC) as media regulator

Burkina Faso's military junta (in power since September 2022) actively restricts online expression through internet shutdowns, social media blocks, and bans on foreign media outlets, making state censorship the defining feature of the online environment. The country has adopted a cybersecurity law in 2024 (Law 014-2024) and has a cybercrime framework dating to 2017, but there is no comprehensive platform-liability or online-safety regime equivalent to the EU DSA or UK Online Safety Act. Age-verification and content-moderation obligations on platforms are absent from existing legislation.

Framework: Loi n° 014-2024/ALT portant sécurité des systèmes d'information (9 July 2024), enforced by the Agence Nationale de Sécurité des Systèmes d'Information (ANSSI), under the Ministry of Digital Transition, Posts and Electronic Communications

Burkina Faso enacted a dedicated, cross-sectoral Information Systems Security Law (No. 014-2024/ALT) on 9 July 2024, adopted unanimously by the Transitional Legislative Assembly. The law establishes binding security obligations for public administrations and the private sector, reinforces ANSSI as the central cybersecurity authority, and provides for sanctions. An implementing decree on approval of cybersecurity products and services was adopted in March 2025, confirming the law is in force.

Framework: Loi N°038-2018/AN portant Code des Investissements du Burkina Faso; OHADA Uniform Act on Commercial Companies (AUDSCGIE); CEFORE one-stop registration centres

Burkina Faso permits 100% foreign ownership in most sectors under the 2018 Investment Code, with company registration channelled through government-run Centres de Formalités des Entreprises (CEFORE) that consolidate incorporation, tax-ID, and social-security steps into a single window typically completed in 3-13 working days. Formal barriers to entry are modest, but practical constraints, including an extended military-transition government (mandate to 2029), active security crisis, infrastructure deficits, and sector-specific restrictions in mining and telecoms, raise the effective difficulty above 'easy'.