Ann: West African Resources Awards Engineering Contract, page-11

Honestly while I don’t believe the situation in Burkina Faso is terrible yet I think you can’t be this dismissive. I spent a bit of time reading about the situation and there has been a marked increase in violence this year. The Government is seeking more international military support (mainly from the French). Semafo (two mines in BF) announced in August that it is transporting expatriate staff by helicopter to airports. The insurgent attacks were previously confined to the areas closer to Mali but there was an incident recently on the eastern side of the country (approx 50 km from Sanbrado, which RR is referring to).

If you read the articles where there are discussions with experts in African affairs they universally agree Burkina Faso is less safe than a few years ago. Previously Burkina Faso had been spared these sort of issues. I think what has changed recently is the level of organisation and boldness of these terrorist groups.

As someone who got burnt investing in ORR in Tanzania when the government changed the mining code I am more vigilant observing how risks develop and keeping track of warning signs.

Having said that, if you look at what happened in Mali a few years ago they had much larger issues with Jihadi terrorist groups and overcame it. B2 bought Fekola there not long after and now it is thriving. Terrorist groups are probably a better sovereign risk to have than a government wanting to change the mining code to take extra from companies.