Meet five ultra-wealthy Burkina Faso entrepreneurs who are individually worth $30 million or more. Each person has founded, owns and runs businesses with proven annual revenues of eight figures or more. Their names don’t ring a bell with the African public, and you’ve probably never heard about them before, but you should probably know them.
Inoussa Kanazoe
Source of wealth: Cement
Inoussa Kanazoe is a businessman with close ties to the brother of Burkina Faso’s former President Blaise Compaore. He made his fortune through the import and export of foodstuffs, petrol, and cement. He is notably the owner of CimFaso (Cimenterie du Faso), which is a partner of Swiss company Holcim via its subsidiary Socimat.
Idrissa Nassa
Source of wealth: Banking
The Burkinabe banking tycoon sits at the helm of Coris Holding, one of the largest financial services groups in Francophone Africa. Coris’ subsidiaries are engaged in commercial banking, insurance and wealth management and operate in nine African countries. The crown jewel in Coris Holding’s portolio is Coris Bank International S.A., Burkina Faso’s largest commercial bank, which is listed on the Bourse Regionale des Valeurs Mobilieres SA (BRVM). The bank has a market cap of over $450 million and Idrissa Nassa holds more than a 70-percent stake.
Mahamadou Bonkoungou
Source of wealth: Construction
Mahamadou Bonkoungou, 56, is the owner of EBOMAF, one of the largest construction companies in West Africa. In the past five years, EBOMAF has won lucrative construction contracts throughout West Africa worth more than $3 billion. His other assets include Liza Transport – a private jet charter company that counts Burkina Faso President Roch Marc Christian Kabore as a loyal client. Last December, he ventured into the banking business when he acquired the Togolese Bank for Commerce and Industry (BTCI). He also owns Bonkoungou Distribution, a Burkina Faso-based distributor of heavy and light machinery for the construction, mining and quarrying sectors.
Moussa Koanda
Source of wealth: Cement
Moussa Koanda is Burkina Faso’s cement king. His GCM Industries manufatures cement, aggregates and ready-mixed concrete. The company is presently constructing a 0.64-million-tonne-per-annnum cement plant on a seven-hectare plot in the industrial zone of Kossodo, Burkina Faso. Koanda also owns Amko Energy, which is a major supplier of fuel products to Burkina Faso and Faso Energy, and Faso Energy, Burkina Faso’s first manufacturer of solar panels.
Nana Boureima
Source of wealth: Metal Processing, General Trading
Nana Boureima is one of the richest men in Burkina Faso. His eponymous company, Ets Nana Boureima, which he founded in 1976, has an annual turnover of more than $30 million. Its line of business includes the wholesale distribution of groceries and related products. He is also one of the biggest property owners in Burkina and owns the country’s largest metal processing company.
