Burkina kicks Meridiam (and France) out of its airport at Donsin

On Wednesday, the transitional government terminated an agreement signed in October 2021 with the French group Meridiam/Marseille for the operation of Donsin airport for a period of thirty (30) years.

For the Ministry of Transport, “the Council approved the request to terminate the Donsin airport concession agreement,” according to the minutes of the Council of Ministers meeting held on Wednesday 09 August 2023.

The government justified the termination on the grounds of several breaches of the agreement.

“The private partner is expected to operate the infrastructure for thirty years before handing it over to the State, even though its financial contribution to the project is derisory. This is unacceptable,” Transport Minister, Roland Somda explained.

The government added that many of the clauses of the agreement are contrary to national and international civil aviation regulations.

“The financial model guarantee doesn’t either guarantee the sustainability of civil aviation’s sovereign bodies,” Mr. Somda explained.

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The transitional authorities have reassured the national public that they currently have “credible alternatives with other partners to find a financing model that preserves the interests of the State.”

In October 2021, the ousted government of President Rock Kabore signed the said contract with the French group Meridiam/Marseille for a period of 30 years.

The ‘Collectif des Syndicats de l’Aéronautique Civile denounced an “agreement that gives pride of place to the French group to the detriment of our sovereignty and the major interests of the aeronautical community by alienating the fundamental issues of State security.”

In January 2023, Captain Ibrahim Traore announced the suspension of the concession agreement for Ouagadougou-Donsin International Airport and the review of the texts governing it