Burkina Faso - Domestic trade

As of 2000, about 90% of the population was employed in subsistence farming. The country relies heavily on imports for capital goods and food products. Importers generally are their own wholesalers and often their own retailers, dealing in everything from matches to farm equipment. There are a limited number of privately-owned factories for cotton and textiles manufacturing and food processing. Many residents migrate to surrounding countries to find work and send money back home. The main commercial centers are in Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso, where French commercial practices prevail.