CHAPTER TWO: HISTORICAL BACKGROUND AND CURRENT CHALLENGES _____________________________________________________________________ vision must also be translated into coherent strategies and programmes which, among other things, define the institutions responsible for implementing such strategies and programmes in a coordinated manner. 96. Then, in realising the vision and strategy, it must be ensured that high and sustained economic growth results, but with equity as regards development at both a social and geographical, or regional, level. Persisting poverty and large inequalities in the distribution of national wealth will, however, lead to cumulative social and regional inequalities. Consequently, strategies for achieving equitable and promising growth for the Burkina Faso of tomorrow should pay attention to this phenomenon. 97. Thirdly, there is the issue of transforming the handicap of being landlocked into a development asset that will enhance the country’s geographical centrality in West Africa. The strategies and economic policies devised should exploit both Burkina Faso’s geographic position and its economic and social advantages so as to make this asset one of the bases for redefining the place of the emerging Burkina Faso in the process of integration into tomorrow’s West Africa. 98. Fourthly, there is the challenge of mobilising human, material, natural and, especially, financial resources. Indeed, the country receives a great deal of foreign aid, so much so that one should speak of its dependence on external aid. The APD, for instance, helps fund more than half of Burkina Faso’s imports as well as most of its public investment and budget deficit. Foreign investment is negligible, and about 80% of domestic public investment is dependent on the public development aid provided by countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and multilateral agencies. At the same time, however, Burkina Faso should make a major effort to promote its autonomy in the course of developing the emerging country by the year 2025. For this purpose, it will be necessary to mobilise the above resources. Apart from mobilising such resources, it is equally important that they be managed with vigilance so as to ensure the absence of corruption in economic governance and to ensure the productivity and efficiency of public spending. 2.5 Constraints and stakes of corporate governance 99. The development of an emerging economy by the year 2025 requires that companies in general, and private enterprises in particular, play their role fully as engines of growth. This should be an inclusive growth that distributes its fruits. In this respect, the country will have to face, and take up, a few major challenges that weigh on its efforts to achieve its vision. 100. In this regard, the first challenge of the Burkina Faso of today and tomorrow is to know how to transform the private sector into an engine of economic growth that distributes such growth both socially and regionally. What must be done, therefore, is to define – according to the prospects and stages of the 57