• SONABHY: towards a new scheme to secure supply
After a turbulent end to the year at gas stations, linked to rumors of fuel shortages, things are back to normal. But the question of Sonabhy’s cash flow difficulties remains unresolved. The Minister in charge of trade made an oral communication during the Council of Ministers on January 11, and received instructions to propose a new plan that puts an end to the continuous deterioration of the Company’s situation.
“The Council has instructed the ministers in charge of the file to propose a plan that will make it possible to break with the trend of continuous deterioration of the situation of Sonabhy, to better secure Burkina Faso’s supplies of hydrocarbons”. The State owes Sonabhy 489.69 billion FCFA, forcing it to go into debt with local and international financial institutions”. The Company’s debt with its suppliers amounts to 149.81 billion FCFA. The latter now require cash to supply the coastal deposits of Sonabhy. Cash tension therefore rhymes with supply tension, pending the government’s new plan to allow Sonabhy to be protected from a financial crisis.
• France/Burkina: one firefighter to make lower the tension
The French Secretary of State, Chrysoula Zacharopoulou, responsible for development, the Francophonie and international partners, was in Ouagadougou on 10 January.
She was received by the President of the Transition at a time when anti-French sentiment is on the rise in Burkina Faso. The government has demanded the departure of the French Ambassador, while the street is demanding the departure of French soldiers from Burkina Faso territory. To make matters worse in the basket of discord, the President of the Transition himself announced the suspension of the agreement which binds the State to the French group Méridiam, for the management of the future Donsin airport, to the great relief of the Collectif des aeronautics unions who believe that this thirty-year concession is a real sell-out. The Collective requests the cancellation of the contract. On all these annoying subjects, the Secretary of State recalled her country’s availability for dialogue and to maintain the partnership.
• Financial market: 40 billion to start the year
That’s it. After being discreet on the regional financial market, Burkina Faso is returning to the regional financial market through the issuance of Treasury Bonds. Scheduled to take place on January 18, 2023, the operation should enable the country to raise 40 billion FCFA.
In addition, Burkina Faso’s public securities issuance schedule for 2023 has been disclosed. Among the instruments that the country intends to use, there are two public offerings for an amount of 150 billion each. In total, the country will be looking for 1,030 billion FCFA for 2023.
• Media: subscription (paywall), main source of revenue
At least that’s what the Archyde.com Institute announces, which published its trends for the media sector in 2023. And for 80% of press publishers surveyed by the institute, the paywall will be their main source of income for this year.
Subscriptions are ahead, in particular, of online (display ) which, with 75%, is expected to be 2e source of income, and in-app , mainly comprising articles and other sponsored content, which received only 58% of the votes of respondents.
In 2020, in-app had garnered 75% of the votes and was anticipated as the second source of media revenue, behind display and its 81%. During the 2020 edition of the study, press publishers saw subscriptions as the 3e Income source. This paradigm has totally changed. Note, however, that the media targeted by the Archyde.com Institute are international and American media.