• BOAD approves $10.5M loan for Donsin Airport equipment
• Project delayed by contract termination, safety, and funding issues
• New airport to open in 2025, boost air traffic and regional growth
  

The West African Development Bank (BOAD) has approved a 5.9 billion XOF (nearly $10.5 million) loan to support the construction of Donsin Airport in Burkina Faso.

According to earlier tender documents, the funds will finance the purchase and installation of aeronautical equipment for Lot A2, which covers the runway, lighting systems, aircraft parking areas, an ICAO-compliant security fence, and airfield drainage.

Work on the airport, launched in 2017, is divided into 26 sections, 15 of which are funded by the government and external partners.

The project suffered a setback in August 2023, when Burkinabè authorities terminated the operating contract held by French groups Meridiam and AMP, the main infrastructure concessionaires. Officials said the 30-year concession was too long, given the firms’ limited investment –about 20% of total project costs–and criticized a tax regime they considered unfavorable to the state. They also cited non-compliance with civil aviation standards after a site collapse in late 2022 that killed seven workers.

Initially slated for completion in 2024, the airport is now expected to open by late 2025. Once finished, it will replace the Ouagadougou-Taamsê Airport, built in the 1960s, and will have a maximum capacity of one million passengers per year.

BOAD said the new facility will accommodate wide-body aircraft, strengthening Burkina Faso’s air transport competitiveness and driving economic growth in the surrounding region.

Henoc Dossa