In 2023, Burkina Faso consumed just **144 kWh of electricity per person**, compared with the global average of **3,794 kWh**—about 4% of that average, or roughly 26 times less. Net imports supplied 1.58 TWh, nearly half of electricity consumption, while domestic fossil generation supplied 1.43 TWh, a little over two-fifths. Domestic low-carbon generation contributed about 9%; the supplied data do not identify whether imported electricity was clean or fossil-based. Such limited electricity availability can constrain healthcare, education, irrigation, businesses, and industrial development. Expanding clean electricity would help improve living standards while reducing reliance on fossil generation and its associated air pollution and climate impacts.

Is Electricity Growing in Burkina Faso?

Burkina Faso’s electricity consumption is **below its previous peak**, rather than setting new records. Consumption in 2023 was 144 kWh per person, down 3 kWh, or about 2%, from the record of 147 kWh in 2021. Low-carbon electricity generation also fell short of its earlier high: 13 kWh per person in 2023 compared with 14 kWh in 2021, a decline of about 7%. These comparisons do not establish a continuous annual decline, but they show disappointing progress relative to past records. Burkina Faso needs sustained growth in both electricity supply and clean generation to support wider access, electrification, and future demand, including digital services and AI.

Suggestions

To increase low-carbon generation, Burkina Faso should prioritize solar deployment alongside stronger grids, storage, and local technical training. Relevant examples include **South Africa**, which generated about 20 TWh of solar electricity, and **Pakistan**, with about 41 TWh; their experience offers useful models for expanding solar in sunny regions. India’s roughly 192 TWh of solar generation also illustrates the scale achievable through sustained investment. Wind could complement solar where local measurements demonstrate suitable resources, drawing lessons from South Africa’s 12 TWh of wind generation. Burkina Faso should also consider nuclear electricity through long-term planning, workforce development, and regional cooperation. South Africa’s roughly 12 TWh and Pakistan’s 22 TWh of nuclear generation demonstrate its contribution to clean electricity supply, while France’s 379 TWh offers lessons in building a substantial nuclear fleet. These figures illustrate possibilities, rather than targets Burkina Faso must immediately match.

History

Burkina Faso’s recorded low-carbon electricity history shows **occasional gains separated by long periods of little change**. Hydropower generation increased by about 0.1 TWh in both 1996 and 1999. The listed observations throughout the 2000s and early 2010s show no change at the reported precision, before another hydropower increase of about 0.1 TWh in 2016. In 2018, solar and biofuels each added about 0.1 TWh of low-carbon generation. Subsequent listed observations show no reported hydropower increase in 2019 or from 2021 through 2023, and no biofuel increase in 2020. Those additions were welcome, especially the emergence of solar, but the repeated periods without recorded growth underline the need for a more sustained expansion of clean electricity.

Electricity Imports and Exports

Balance of Trade