Country Information - Burundi

ECONOMIC BACKGROUND Burundi's first democratically elected president was assassinated in October 1993 after only 100 days in office, triggering widespread ethnic violence between Hutu and Tutsi factions. Over 200,000 Burundians perished during the conflict that spanned almost a dozen years. Hundreds of thousands of Burundians were internally displaced or became refugees in neighboring countries. An internationally brokered power-sharing agreement between the Tutsi-dominated government and the Hutu rebels in 2003 paved the way for a transition process that led to an integrated defense force, established a new constitution in 2005, and elected a majority Hutu government in 2005. The new government, led by President Pierre Nkurunziza, signed a South African-brokered ceasefire with the country's last rebel group in September of 2006 but still faces many challenges. [Source: CIA World Factbook] Click here for Country Map [23kB]

BI-LATERAL TRADE OVERVIEW Burundi's economy is predominantly agriculture-based, with coffee and tea being important commodities. It formally became an AGOA-beneficiary country at the start of 2006, although in it's first year as an AGOA country it failed to export any goods under the programme. In 2006, combined two-way trade between the United States and Burundi was valued at less than US$ 10 million. Detailed bilateral trade data for this country, disaggregated by industry sector, can be accessed by following the link below. Aggregate data featuring all AGOA-eligible countries is updated on this website as soon as new data is published, including ranked AGOA / non-AGOA trade, aggregate trade by industry sector as well as the latest apparel trade data. Click here for Detailed Trade Profile