Ouagadougou: The new Dr. Ali Traoré highlighted, through the study of the case of the Zemstaaba cooperative of artisanal miners of Gnikpière in the province of Ioba, the internal and external factors by which artisanal mining organizations could strengthen their resilience. To obtain his title of Doctor (Dr) at the Academy of Management Sciences of Paris in France, the applicant, Maître Ali Traoré brilliantly defended his thesis this Saturday, November 30, 2024, in Ouagadougou, by videoconference. The applicant first presented his research entitled “Resilience of the artisanal mining sector in the context of insecurity linked to terrorism in Burkina Faso: case of the Zemstaaba cooperative of artisanal miners of Gnikpière in the province of Ioba”.
According to Burkina Information Agency, the theme is justified on the one hand by the fact that the mining sector, including the artisanal sector, constitutes a strategic lever for the development of Burkina Faso and the affirmation of its sovereignty. Unfortunatel
y, this sector, particularly artisanal, is also the object of covetousness on the part of terrorist groups. The central question of the applicant’s research was the following: can the Burkinabe artisanal mining sector be resilient to insecurity linked to terrorism? From the semi-directed interviews carried out, the observation of the artisanal mining site of Gnikpière, the documentary review and the triangulation of sources and data, he tried to understand and explain the resilience of artisanal mining in a context of insecurity linked to terrorism.
The following factors also contribute to this: organizational culture, respect for institutions, integration of local traditions and customs, values promoted such as solidarity, mutual respect, fair and non-discriminatory treatment, involvement and participation, etc. The two main lessons learned from this case research are: an organization in the artisanal mining sector can be resilient to insecurity linked to terrorism if it develops practices or strategies bas
ed on both internal and external factors; the Burkinabe artisanal mining sector can be resilient to insecurity linked to terrorism.
The epistemological paradigm chosen by the applicant was interpretivist with an inductive reasoning mode. Mr. Traoré then responded to the observations and questions of the jury members. The jury, chaired by Professor Chafik Bentaleb with Professors Doha Sahraoui and Soufyane FRimousse as rapporteurs, and his thesis director Professor Aimad El Hajri finally appreciated the quality, originality and quality of the work done by the applicant. While congratulating the applicant for his courage in dealing with such a subject in a context of difficult insecurity, they recognized that the work of Dr. Ali Traoré is useful not only for Burkina Faso but also for Africa.