Burkina Faso: AF DAS Moss Meeting with Prime Minister Zongo

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 OUAGADOUGOU 000490

AF/W FOR EPLUMB, JHUTCHISON
NSC FOR KAREN O'DONNELL

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 6/9/2023
TAGS: PREL ECON EAID UNSC UV
SUBJECT: Burkina Faso: AF DAS Moss Meeting with Prime Minister Zongo


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Reftel: Ouagadougou 0432

Classified by Amb. Jeanine Jackson; reasons 1.4(b,d)


1. This is an action request for IO Bureau. Please see para 17.


2. (U) Summary: In a June 4 meeting with AF DAS Todd Moss, Prime
Minister Tertius Zongo explained his government's efforts to promote
good governance, fight corruption, improve Burkina Faso's business
climate, and boost agricultural production. Zongo said that the land
reform component of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC)
Compact could help boost food production.


3. (C) Zongo stated that Burkina Faso's foreign policy priorities
included promoting regional peace and security, and closer
collaboration with the United States on the UN Security Council.
Burkina Faso has had difficulties working with Libya (a fellow UN
Security Council non-permanent member) since President Blaise
Compaore visited Israel in May, Zongo said. DAS Moss told Zongo it
would be a mistake to reduce the number of UNMIL troop in Liberia
below currently planned reductions because this could put at risk
efforts to rebuild that country. End Summary.

Good Governance, Peer Review, Fight Against Corruption
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4. (SBU) Zongo opened the June 4 meeting by recalling that DAS Moss,
during their last meeting together with AF PDAS Linda
Thomas-Greenfield (in August 2007),had inquired about policy
measures that Zongo planned to increase the efficiency of the
Burkinabe Government. Zongo also recalled receiving from Moss a copy
of USAID's report on how roadblocks by customs and security forces in
West Africa were an impediment to regional trade, and asked to
receive a copy of the latest report. Zongo explained his interest in
the USAID report by stressing that a key goal since becoming Prime
Minister had been to deliver measurable results that positively
impacted all classes of Burkinabe society. Zongo stated that his
Government's three top priorities -- in both Burkina Faso and the
sub-region -- were promoting democracy; good governance; and peace
and stability.


5. (SBU) Regarding good governance, Zongo noted that he was in
discussions with the National Assembly and civil society concerning
reforms that might be undertaken this calendar year, such as the use
of ID cards to establish electoral lists, financing of political
parties, the (weak) status of opposition parties, and quotas for
women electoral candidates.


6. (SBU) Zongo also stated that the African Union-endorsed, New
Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) African Peer Review
Mechanism was a useful tool to improve governance. This peer review,
he said, had helped Burkina Faso focus on four points: political
governance; the economy; corporate governance and improving the
business climate; and cross-cutting issues -- such as the role of
women and environmental protection. President Compaore, Zongo noted,
would be making a speech on June 29 responding to Burkina Faso's peer
review with proposals to combat corruption and fraud, and "moralize"
public life.


7. (SBU) Zongo also stressed that Burkina Faso had recently created a
new anti-corruption entity, the Superior Authority of State Control
(SASC),whose head would take office on June 9. SASC will have "real
independence," Zongo said, including the ability to publish reports
on its work, and refer corruption cases directly to the judicial
system. Zongo consulted with Ambassador before creating the SASC, he
recalled, and now asked for USG support for this new institution.


8. (C) Comment: Zongo is sincere in desiring to attack corruption,
but we believe his efforts will have only minimal effect. In
general, President Compaore will not allow high-level corruption
cases to be prosecuted by the judicial system, which Compaore
controls. Thus, while the SASC may be an institutional improvement
on paper, its impact will be limited until there are reforms making
the judiciary branch truly independent. End Comment.

Improving the Climate for Investment and Business
-------------- --------------


9. (SBU) Burkina Faso was also improving its investment climate by
making it easier to do business, Zongo said. The National Assembly
recently passed a law making the labor code more flexible. It is
also trying to improve the quality of education, which is also key

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for business, and has emphasized girls' education in particular.
There is a saying in Africa that when a woman is educated, a whole
family is educated, Zongo explained.


10. (SBU) Moss inquired if Zongo had met with Omar Issa, the Chief
Executive Officer of the Investment Climate Facility Fund for Africa,
which is based in Dar Es Salaam-based and piloting work in Rwanda
that could be a model for Burkina Faso. The United States was not a
member of the Fund, Moss added, but was thinking of joining this
initiative. Zongo responded that he was considering creating an
Investment Council for Burkina Faso with at least one member who was
a member of this Fund.

Boosting Agricultural Production: Need for More Reform
-------------- --------------


11. (SBU) For Burkina Faso to solve its long-term challenges, it must
also solve short-term problems as a matter of survival, Zongo said.
As an example of the seriousness of the situation, Zongo noted that
demonstrators (in Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso) had recently
protested against the rising cost of living by vandalizing street
lights. As a local solution to price rises, the Government hoped in
the current agricultural season to double rice production, increase
substantially corn and cereal output, and relaunch the key cotton
sector -- boosting output over 50%, from around 400,000 tons in
2007-2008 to over 600,000 tons in 2008-2009. To achieve these
increases, the GOBF hoped to make available to farmers increased
fertilizer, improved seed, and additional agricultural equipment,
such as machinery to de-hull rice. To this end, the GOBF would also
need donor assistance, Zongo added, and would soon be transmitting a
request regarding food security to Ambassador.


12. (SBU) Moss said that the path of reform was not a "one-time
deal," but rather a continual process. Even in the United States,
for example, we are constantly trying fixes to reform our economy,
such as rules to reduce the cost of listing shares in New York so
that business is not lost to other financial centers such as London.
It was also important that Burkina Faso compare itself not only to
other countries in the sub-region, but also globally. The bar of
needed reforms is not only high, but keeps moving upward, Moss
stated.

MCC: Agricultural Reform, Uncertainty About Compact
-------------- --------------


13. (SBU) In response to a question from Moss, Zongo said that
Burkina Faso had no problems with regard to liberalizing its markets
(for agricultural inputs and production). Instead, its problem was
primarily one of supply, i.e. how to expand production. Burkina Faso
needed to make its agricultural sector more like a business, and be
able to attract investors to enter that sector.


14. (SBU) In this regard, the MCC Compact's land reform program will
be important because, for example, it will allow a farmer with title
to 1000 hectares to borrow and purchase agricultural inputs, Zongo
said. If Burkina Faso is providing exonerations allowing the
duty-free importation using in mining or even in making candies, he
asked rhetorically, why did it not exonerate imports of entrepreneurs
investing in agriculture? (Zongo also slipped in a pitch for the
United States to invite President Compaore to the Compact signing
scheduled for July 16 in Washington.)


15. (SBU) DAS Moss said there was uncertainty in Congress concerning
funding for MCC that could impact Compacts for Burkina Faso and
Botswana, but that he was hopeful that this funding would be fully
restored. MCA was just one part of the USG's bilateral assistance
programs with Burkina Faso, he stressed. The United States would
also continue to encourage multilateral donors such as the World Bank
to aggressively attack poverty in Burkina Faso, Moss said.

Stability in Sub-Region and at Home; UN Issues
-------------- --


16. (SBU) Stability: Shifting to foreign policy issues, Zongo said
the Burkinabe Government had made progress in advancing peace and
security in the sub-region, most notably in Cote d'Ivoire and Togo,
and was also promoting stability domestically through
decentralization reforms that empowered citizens to make decisions
and not feel excluded from the political process.


17. (SBU) UNSC Collaboration: Regarding Burkina Faso's collaboration
with the United States in the UN Security Council, Zongo indicated

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the two sides needed to "keep in touch" and exchange views on major
issues from time to time. Burkina Faso's UN Ambassador is under
instructions to maintain close contact with USUN. DAS Moss responded
by stressing that, if Burkina Faso was not getting the level of
communication that it expected from USUN, it could work through
colleagues in Washington to gain more information. Zongo clarified
that communication was fine, but that Burkina Faso wanted to make
sure it "kept on being good." Action Request: We believe that Zongo
was being polite, and in reality believes that the United States and
Burkina Faso need to have a bilateral discussion of upcoming UNSC
issues. Ambassador recommends that IO consider a bilateral exchange
with Burkina Faso's UN Mission in New York about UNSC issues --
similar to one that IO led last December. End Action Request.


18. (C) Libya and Israel: Zongo noted that difficult questions
concerning African countries continue to be placed on the agenda of
the UNSC, where Libya is also a non-permanent member. (Like Burkina
Faso, its two-year seat is 2008-2009). Burkina Faso has had
difficulties working with Libya, however, since Compaore visited
Israel in May (reftel). Burkina Faso resented remarks made by Libya
leader Muammar Qadaffi that suggest that the leader of a sovereign
country like Burkina Faso did not have the right to go where he
pleased.


19. (C) Liberia: Burkina Faso was gaining extra attention because of
its UNSC seat, DAS Moss said. In this regard, the United States felt
strongly that it would be a mistake to reduce the number of UNMIL
troop in Liberia below currently planned reductions because this
could put at risk all the investment made into rebuilding that
country. The United States has been rebuilding the Liberian army;
the United Nations has been rebuilding the police, but neither is
ready to act alone with significant UNMIL support. The United States
does not agree with the iew expressed by some Europeans that Liberia
hasbeen quiet for several years, and that therefore toop reductions
can be made, Moss stated.

Jacksn