• Burkina Faso launches digital infrastructure mapping tool, OAN
• Goal: eliminate mobile coverage gaps by 2027
• Only 17% internet penetration despite 85% mobile reach
  

On Friday, October 24, Burkina Faso launched Observatoire de l’aménagement numérique (OAN), a new platform designed to collect, analyze, and map data on the country’s digital infrastructure. The tool aims to support public policy decisions and help close the nation’s digital divide.

According to the Ministry of Digital Transition, the OAN will enable public and private stakeholders to coordinate digital development efforts more effectively, optimize investments, prevent overlapping infrastructure projects, and enhance citizens’ access to telecommunications services.

The initiative comes after the government’s September 30 announcement of a 25 billion CFA franc ($44.36 million) program to connect 750 “white zones” — areas with no mobile coverage — in 2025. The project is part of the “zero white zone” initiative, which seeks to eliminate all coverage gaps by 2027. Authorities have identified 1,700 such zones nationwide, including 138 covered in 2024 and 283 in 2022.

Extending mobile coverage fits into Burkina Faso’s broader strategy to reach 100% high-speed broadband access by 2030. Other components of this strategy include promoting infrastructure sharing, expanding the national backbone network, extending fiber-to-the-home connections, and attracting greater investment in digital infrastructure.

In August 2024, Aminata Zerbo/Sabane, Minister of Digital Transition, said that mobile telephony services now reach 85% of the population, with 3G coverage at 64% and 4G at 46%. However, International Telecommunication Union (ITU) data show that in 2023, internet penetration in Burkina Faso stood at 17%, compared with 55.9% for mobile telephony.

Isaac K. Kassouwi