Hon. Yacouba Zabré Gouba
Minister
Ministry of Energy and Mines
Republic of Burkina Faso
Yacouba Zabré Gouba was appointed Minister for Energy, Mines and Quarries. The limited information available to Minesactu.info indicates that he is no stranger to the mining sector. This Treasury Inspector worked in the General Directorate of the Treasury and Public Accounting as an agent before being appointed Head of the State Public Establishments Department of the Directorate of Monetary and Ficial Affairs (Direction des affaires monétaires et ficières – DAMOF) within the Treasury. He has also twice sat on the board of directors of Netiana Mining Company SA as a director representing the State. Indeed, on 8 June 2018, the government appointed him as director representing the State on the Board of Directors of Netiana Mining Company SA, under the Ministry of the Economy, Fice and Development, for an initial term of 03 years. On 17 November 2021, he was again appointed director representing the State, on behalf of the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Quarries, on the Board of Directors of the same mining company, Netiana Mining Company SA, for a final term of 03 years. As a reminder, the Nétiana mine is located in the rural commune of Guiaro, in the province of Nahouri. It is a subsidiary of the AVESORO group, which operates the Youga mine. The Nétiana mine obtained its large-scale industrial gold mining permit on 23 January 2017. The permit was renewed on 23 June 2021, but the company suspended work in January 2022 after an attack on a neighbouring site in Ouaré. Yacouba Zabré Gouba arrives at the Ministry of Mines against a backdrop of insecurity. He will be able to draw on his experience of the Netiana Mining Company mine, which is experiencing difficulties in managing the sector as a whole. In addition to the board of this mining company, the new Minister of Mines, Yacouba Zabré Gouba, was also appointed in April 2023 to sit on the board of the National Fund for the Promotion of Sport and Leisure (Fonds national pour la promotion du Sport et des loisirs – FNPSL). But on 13 September 2023, he was appointed Treasurer of the Embassy of Burkina Faso in Tehran, Iran.