• Burkina Faso has created Yennenga Holding to centralize state stakes in banks and a reinsurer.

• The new entity will manage holdings in BCB, BADF, the Postal Bank, and Faso Réassurances.

• Authorities say the move aims to strengthen governance and channel financing to major state projects.

Burkina Faso’s government has launched a restructuring of its financial-sector holdings with the creation of Yennenga Holding Burkina Faso. During the Council of Ministers meeting on March 12, two decrees were adopted to formally establish the company and approve its statutes.

The holding company has a share capital of CFA10 billion (about $17.5 million). It is owned 51% by the Burkinabe state and 49% by its public entities. According to the Council of Ministers’ report, the new structure will hold the shares owned by the state and its public bodies in three banks and one reinsurance company where the government is the majority shareholder.

These institutions are Banque commerciale du Burkina (BCB), Banque agricole du Faso (BADF), the Postal Bank, and the reinsurance company Faso Réassurances.

Aboubakar Nacanabo, Minister of Economy and Finance, said the goal is to ensure strategic management of these institutions so that actions that can be coordinated across them are properly implemented. “The creation of this holding will help improve the management of public resources, particularly those held by the banks, and ensure that they contribute to financing the state’s major development projects,” he said.

A financial portfolio worth more than CFA90 billion

The creation of Yennenga Holding comes as the Burkinabe state maintains stakes across several financial institutions. The government and its public entities hold around 28% of the shares in 15 credit institutions. They also own stakes in four insurance and reinsurance companies, one microfinance institution, and three other financial entities.

In the four institutions that will fall under the new holding, the state and its public entities together control around 91.67% of the share capital. The value of these holdings is estimated at CFA90.09 billion.

An instrument of economic policy

Authorities say the new structure should strengthen governance and performance within state-owned financial institutions. By centralizing the management of the public financial portfolio, the government aims to better monitor the performance of these companies and steer their activities toward national economic priorities.

The creation of the holding had already been announced on February 2 by the finance minister during the presentation of his department’s projects. At that time, Nacanabo said the government was preparing to establish a holding company tasked with owning and managing public stakes in certain banks.

Chamberline Moko