Goats, sheep, and cattle are raised in large numbers, and live animals are exported. Cotton, meat, hides, and skins are also exported. Severe drought conditions have made the economy suffer, resulting in substantial migration to C te d'Ivoire and Ghana each year. Small quantities of gold are mined, and large deposits of manganese and bauxite are known to exist. Manufacturing plants include cotton gins, rice and flour mills, a sugar refinery, and a textile mill.
Service industries account for a small portion of the work force.
Communications are mostly inadequate. Burkina Faso has one of the most poorly developed transportation networks in West Africa. It has one railroad, which connects Ouagadougou with the C te d'Ivoire port of Abidjan. Ouagadougou and Bobo Dioulasso have international airports. Sankara, Thomas History and Government The Bobo, Gurunsi, and Lobi peoples were the earliest known inhabitants of the region.