Economy

Burundi is a landlocked country in the early stages of development. It has little to offer in terms of natural resources. The economy depends on subsistence agriculture, which accounts for 90% of the country’s economy. Cassava and sweet potatoes are the main subsistence crops, while coffee (the country’s leading export), tea and cotton are the main cash crops. Hides and skins also produce valuable income. The country’s small mining industry produces gold, tin, tungsten and tantalum. Deposits of vanadium, uranium and nickel – perhaps 5 per cent of known global reserves – have also been located and are due to be exploited in the near future. Oil deposits are believed to be present, although the quantities are unknown. Manufacturing is confined to small textile concerns. The country’s main foreign exchange earner is coffee, accounting for 80% of the earnings. The civil war had left 250,000 dead and more than 800, 000 displaced. Today, Burundi is largely dependent on foreign aid but is still short on food, medicines and electricity. Its imports highly outweigh exports. GDP is at $ 4.2 billion and the inflation rate at 24%. Its major export partners are UK, Germany, Benelux and Switzerland and import partners are Benelux, France, Zambia, Germany, Kenya and Japan.

As one of the poorest countries in the world, with an annual per capita income of just US$100, Burundi remains heavily dependent on foreign aid, principally from France, Germany, Belgium (these three are also its major sources of imports), the EU and the World Bank. It appeared, in 2001, that Burundi's future prospects had been improved by the largely successful implementation of the Mandela peace accord. However, sustainable peace between the Tutsi minority, who dominates government, and the Hutu majority, has looked increasingly doubtful, and has hampered Burundi's economic development - GDP plummeted to -1.3 per cent in 2004. Burundi’s major export markets are the countries of the CFA Franc zone, which take approximately one-third of the total, followed by Belgium-Luxembourg, the USA, UK, France and The Netherlands.