Central Market Improvement, Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso

Topics:
Urban Finance
Market Upgrading
Public Space Upgrading
Public-Private Partnerships

Location:
Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso

Organizers:
Agence Francaise de Developpement
Local merchants

Background: Burkina Faso is a poor country and its municipalities receive little support from the government. When the Central Market of Bobo-Dioulasso needed upgrading in the late 1990s, the municipality’s poor finances proved to be an obstacle in securing investments.

Project: In 1998, the French Development Agency agreed to pay for 60% of the cost; the additional 40% had to be provided by the merchants. A new public-private body (the SGM) was created to manage the market and act as a liaison between the market and vendors. It comprised elected municipal officials and Central Market vendors.

In order to amass their 40% of the construction cost, merchants were allowed to buy stalls in the new marketplace before construction began; stall prices varied by size and location. Purchase of a stall guaranteed a merchant’s place in the new market for 25 years. Within three months, 605 of the stalls has been bought and by the end of 2000, every stall within the new market had been bought (18.5% of them by women). The SGM was charged with providing and maintaining water and electricity in the market, collecting vendor fees, and generally administering the market.

Sources: AFD. “Rehabilitation of a Market.” Available online at: www.afd.fr/jahia/webdav/site/afd/shared/ELEMENTS_COMMUNS/infos-projets/Telechargements/Rehabilitation_marche_Bobo-Dioulasso_Burkina-Faso-en.pdf