Like neighboring Rwanda, Burundi took center stage in the mid-1990’s for the wrong reasons. Situated in the scenic great lakes region of Africa, this land-locked, resource-poor former colony has been the scene of some of the modern world’s worst carnage.

The assassination in1993 of Burundi’s first democratically elected president triggered widespread ethnic violence between Hutu and Tutsi factions, causing more than 200,000 to perish. The mountain cost of human lives was accompanied by worsening economic conditions.

An internationally brokered power-sharing agreement between the Tutsi-dominated government and the Hutu rebels in 2003 paved the way for a freely elected Hutu majority government and the opportunity to rebuild.

Country Profile

The Republic of Burundi is situated in the high rainfall region bordering Lake Tanganyika. Most of the people are Rundi or Burundi, comprising the Bantu Hutu (Bahutu) peoples (85%) and Nilotic Tutsi (Batutsi) (15%).

The Twa (Batwa), descendants of the early Pygmy population, number only in the thousands. The majority of both Tutsi and Hutu are Christians-overwhelmingly Roman Catholic. Kirundi and French are official languages and Swahili is widely spoken.

Business Activity

Agriculture

Coffee, cotton, tea, corn, sorghum, potatoes, bananas, manioc, beef, milk, hides.
Industries
Light consumer goods such as blankets, shoes, soap, components assembly, public works construction, food processing.

Natural Resources

Nickel, uranium, rare earth oxides, peat, cobalt, copper, unexploited platinum, vanadium, and gold.

Exports

$44.5 million (2007 est.): coffee, tea, cotton, hides.

Imports

$272 million (2007 est.): capital goods, petroleum products, foodstuffs, consumer goods.

Major Trading Partners

Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, France, Uganda, Kenya.

Source: Les de Villiens, Africa 2009, Ninth Edition (A publication of The Corporate Council on Africa and Business Books International)