We're building a factory! 

Thierry Compaore

Thierry Compaore, our local co-project manager, was born in Burkina Faso. He has managed various construction projects and worked in Canada for several years before joining gebana.

You have previously worked on a number of construction sites. How does a construction site in Burkina Faso differ from one in Canada?
Thierry Compaore: In Canada and Europe, every type of machine imaginable is available for construction projects. Lorries, excavators, bulldozers. When it comes to groundwork, you don’t see anyone using a shovel or pickaxe. The concrete is  ready to use and delivered by lorry, whereas in Burkina Faso, we mix our own concrete on site. Another difference is the availability of trained and experienced builders. In Burkina, we work primarily with people from the region who desperately need work. Some have a bit of experience, but not all of them.

What's it like to work with the government authorities in Burkina Faso?
In Canada, and in European countries, you submit your documents and then you might have to follow up two or three times to get your permits. In Burkina, you need a personal connection to someone at the ministry or government authority. You have to make a lot of phone calls, meet people, explain the urgency and try to be as friendly as possible. Otherwise, your documents could even end up missing.

What impact did the two military coups have?
During the first coup, all the relevant key players remained in office. Because we had good relationships with them and our project will be creating added value locally, we had no major issues getting our paperwork. But the second coup directly impacted our environmental study, which cost us time. On the whole, however, our dealings with the local authorities have gone fairly smoothly.

What do you think about the delays you have encountered so far?
In Burkina and Africa in general delays caused by bureaucracy are normal. But delays during the actual building work are a global issue. Regardless of which country you're building in, there will always be minor issues or disruptions. Sometimes you don't have a choice, you have to take the hit and get on with it.

Mirjam Traoré

Mirjam Traoré was born in Switzerland and has been living in Burkina Faso since 2016. One of her roles at gebana Burkina Faso is Head of HR.

What does it take to find 1'000 employees in Burkina Faso?
Mirjam Traoré: While carrying out assessments before construction began, during the ceremonies held on site and discussions with village elders and government authorities, we repeatedly promised that the factory would create a lot of jobs in the region. Word has spread and we have people coming to see us almost every day to put their names on our list for future job opportunities. But we're also looking for technicians and electricians to service the machines, which we didn't have before. We're actively recruiting these skilled workers at the moment so they'll be available when the machines are installed.

What's your interview process like?
When you have to hire 200 to 300 people in one go, you can't have an in-depth interview with each person. We sit down together for a few minutes and explain how things work, when they would need to start and what the salary would be. We then hold group sessions to explain who gebana is and what we stand for. Unfortunately, we often get people who don't have an ID or even a birth certificate. This is linked with the movement of refugees within the country and the fact that up until recently, you could only obtain a copy of your birth certificate from your local municipality. But you can now apply for one remotely. We help those affected to take advantage of this new service as we can't employ them without papers.

How do current employees feel about the upcoming changes?
Everyone knows that, going forward, the painstaking task of cracking the cashews will be done by machines, and many are delighted. Some employees were initially worried that they'd lose their jobs. But we'll be needing a lot more people overall, so they will all be able to stay. Their work will shift to downstream processes, which require less effort than cracking cashews. I think everyone here at gebana Burkina Faso is really looking forward to the new factory. But we've been talking about it for a long time. By now, some people are starting to doubt whether La belle usine will really happen. That's why we've already organised several visits to the construction site to take a look at the first buildings with them and dispel any doubts.

Ousseni Porgo

Ousseni Porgo is Co-CEO at gebana Burkina Faso. His responsibilities include working with the family farmers and purchasing their raw materials.

How many new family farmers do we need for the new factory to run at full capacity?
Ousseni Porgo: Our goal is to increase the number of family farmers from our current total of 4'687 to around 7'000 within the next three years. We plan on adding the first 1'000 families to our network by the end of 2024. I'm confident that we'll be able to achieve this.

What are the challenges you face when searching for new family farmers?
The security problem in our country makes the search difficult. Things are improving around Bobo-Dioulasso and more and more families are returning to their homes, but it's still dangerous in the north.

How will the new volume of goods impact our local logistics?
The cooperatives are responsible for transporting their raw materials. But we also look at the distance of their transport routes when negotiating prices. For example, if a cooperative is located 200 kilometres from our warehouse, we pay a small surcharge to ensure they can finance the transport. The quality of the roads poses a greater challenge. It takes two days for some producers to get to Bobo-Dioulasso because the roads are so bad.

With so many producers, what is the quality like?
It is indeed a challenge. Even today, family farmers could theoretically harvest more than we currently need. But climate change is making this increasingly difficult. We experienced extremely high temperatures during the flowering season in February this year. A lot of trees lost their blossoms, which caused harvest volumes to plummet and had a negative impact on quality. That's why we're now focussing even more on training producers. In the end, climate change will make it even more important to maintain the fields with adequate fertilisation and to ensure the health of the trees.