Telecom Tycoon Bets On Mobile Wallet

NEWSMAKERS By Erik Heinrich Zimbabwe’s Strive Masiyiwa is a man who knows a thing or two about setting lofty goals and achieving them. The wireless communications tycoon is already his country’s richest man and only billionaire, but his latest business ...

 
 
Source
Central bank

Bank of the Republic of Burundi

International Reserves

USD 0.07 billion (2018)

International Monetary Fund (IMF), data retrieved October 2019

Gross Domestic Product - GDP

USD 3.4 billion (2018, estimate)

GDP (Purchasing Power Parity)

Intl$ 8.2 billion (2018, estimate)

Real GDP growth
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
3.5% 4.9% 3.8% 5.1% 4% 4.4% 5.9%
2014 2015* 2016* 2017* 2018*    
4.5% -4% -1% 0% 0.1%    

*Estimate

GDP per capita - current prices

USD 307.0 (2018, estimate)

GDP per capita - PPP

Intl$ 732.5 (2018, estimate)

GDP (PPP) - share of world total
0.006% (2019, estimate)
 
 
Source
GDP - composition by sector
  • agriculture: 39.5% 
  • industry: 16.4% 
  • services: 44.2%

(2017 estimate)

Gross domestic expenditure on R&D; (% of GDP)

N/A

 

Inflation
2015 2016 2017 2018* 2019*
5.6% 5.5% 16.6% 1.2% 7.3%

*Estimate

Unemployment rate
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

*Estimate

Household saving rates

N/A

 

Public debt (General government gross debt as a % of GDP)
2015* 2016* 2017* 2018* 2019*
45.3% 48.4% 51.7% 58.4% 63.5%

*Estimate

Public deficit (General government net lending/borrowing as a % of GDP)

2015*          2016*                    2017*                     2018*              2019*

-5.3% -6.2% -7.8% -8.6% -9.1%

*Estimate

Government bond ratings

Standard & Poor's: N/A

Moody's: N/A

Standard & Poor's / Moody's 

Market value of publicly traded shares
2016 2017 2018
N/A N/A N/A
Largest companies

N/A

 
 
Source
Current account balance

USD -0.5 billion (2018 estimate)

Current account balance by percentage of GDP

-13.4 % (2018 estimate)

Exports as percent of GDP (Exports of goods and services)

6.4% (2016)

Shares in world total merchandising export

0.001% (2018)

Shares in world total commercial services export

0.0003% (2017)

Total exports

USD 236.5 million (2017)

Export commodities

Coffee, tea, sugar, cotton, hides

Total imports

USD 855.0 million (2017 estimate)

 
 
Source
Import commodities

Capital goods, petroleum products, foodstuffs

Exports - major partners

Democratic Republic of the Congo 25.5%, Switzerland 18.4%, UAE 14.9%, Belgium 6% (2017)

Imports - major partners

India 18.5%, China 13%, Kenya 7.9%, UAE 6.8%, Saudi Arabia 6.8%, Uganda 6%, Tanzania 5.4%, Zambia 4.6% (2017)

FDI inflows
2016 2017 2018
USD 0.1 million USD 0.3 million USD 1.0 million
FDI outflows
2016 2017 2018
USD 0.1 million USD 0.3 million USD 1.0 million
Value of cross-border M&A, by country of purchaser
2015 2016 2017 2018
N/A N/A N/A N/A
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2014

N/A

Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2015

N/A

Best countries for doing business

Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business. A high ease of doing business ranking means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm.

Overall ranking:

166 out of 190 countries

​Subcategories:
Starting a Business: 44 out of 190 countries
Dealing with Construction Permits: 161 out of 190 countries
Getting Electricity: 184 out of 190 countries
Registering Property: 100 out of 190 countries
Getting Credit: 176 out of 190 countries
Protecting Minority Investors: 143 out of 190 countries
Paying Taxes: 140 out of 190 countries
Trading across Borders: 169 out of 190 countries
Enforcing Contracts: 158 out of 190 countries
Resolving Insolvency: 147 out of 190 countries
World Bank - Doing Business 2019

Global competitiveness ranking

135 out of 141 countries

(2019)

Index of Economic Freedom

Ranking: 162 / Score: 48.9 (Repressed)

(100=totally free 0=totally repressed)

 
 
Source
Time zone

UTC+2

Total area

27,830 sq km

Capital

Gitega (political capital), Bujumbura (commercial capital); note - in January 2019, the Burundian parliament voted to make Gitega the political capital of the country while Bujumbura would remain its economic capital; all branches of the government are ex

Currency

Burundi francs (BIF)

Government type

Presidential republic

Languages

Kirundi 29.7% (official), Kirundi and other language 9.1%, French (official); French and other language 0.3%, Swahili; Swahili and other language 0.2% (along Lake Tanganyika and in the Bujumbura area), English (official); English and other language 0.06%,

Religions

Roman Catholic 62.1%, Protestant 23.9% (includes Adventist 2.3% and other Protestant 21.6%), Muslim 2.5%, other 3.6%, unspecified 7.9% (2008 est.)

Total population
1990* 2000* 2010* 2015* 2020*
5.46 million 6.68 million 8.78 million 10.2 million 11.88 million

*Estimate

 
 
Source
Urban population as % of total population
1960 1980 2000 2018
2.1% 4.3% 8.2% 13%
Population median age

17.1 years

Population growth rate

3.23% (2018 estimate)

Life expectancy

61.4 years (2018 estimate)

Literacy

Total population: 85.6% 
Male: 88.2% 
Female: 83.1%
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write (2015 est.)

(age 15 and over can read and write)

% of population living on less than $3.10 a day

89.3% (last available estimate, 2013)

Inequality of wealth distribution (Gini index)

38.6 (last available estimate, 2013)

Freedom House rating

Not Free
Political Rights: 7
Civil Liberties: 6 (2019)

(1 represents the most free, 7 the least free rating)

Source
Total telephone subscribers as % of population

Fixed: 0.2% Mobile: 56.5% (2018)
(fixed-telephone subscribers and mobile-cellular subscribers)

Internet users as % of total population

2.66 % (2017)

Mercer Cost of living index

N/A

CO2 emissions

0.04 metric tons per capita (2014)

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