Burkina Faso to pursue debtors with business closures, asset seizures, and home visits

This portfolio includes unpaid checks, bank debts, ordinary state debts, debts from state entities, and debts from court decisions in favor of the state. Minister of Justice and Human Rights, Rodrigue Bayala, revealed that at least 10,000 unpaid checks, valued at 33,986,872,718 FCFA as of March 31, 2026, are held by the State Judicial Agent AJE. These checks, originating from tax, customs, and treasury services nationwide, are linked to a "criminal association" that created fictitious companies, opened accounts, and produced checkbooks with the complicity of some public agents.

The AJE also inherited a portfolio of bank debts from the Bureau de recouvrement des créances du Burkina BRCB, amounting to approximately 20,000,000,000 FCFA as of December 31, 2025. Other ordinary contentious debts, totaling 2,511,055,058 FCFA, include financial guarantees, overpayments to public agents, irregularities identified by control bodies, cash deficits, unjustified expenses, unpaid gambling hall royalties, unpaid rental invoices for the Ouaga 2000 International Conference Center, and penalties from decentralized financial systems and defaulting bidders. Debts from court decisions amount to 4,297,531,395 FCFA, while debts from state entities entrusted to the AJE total 46,510,734,965 FCFA.

The state emphasizes that honoring commitments to the state is an obligation, not an option. Cons