Socio-Economic Barriers to Sustainable Development in Burkina Faso

Abstract

The Western Sahel has garnered global attention due to its complex and interconnected challenges, economic fragility, political instability, and environmental pressures, making it a critical research area. Focusing on Burkina Faso, this study analyses sociopolitical barriers (e.g., governance deficits, inequality) and economic growth through a two-stage framework. First, a multivariate regression (2010–2022) was used to assess macroeconomic partial effects, followed by a principal component analysis to address collinearity and uncover latent structural patterns. Our findings reveal that sustainable growth requires the strengthening of democratic institutions, economic diversification, enhanced security, and inclusive development strategies, highlighting the need for multidimensional approaches to address systemic interdependencies in post-conflict economies.