Sub Saharan Africa

• Travel Summary
• Safety and security
• Local laws and customs
• Entry requirements

• Health
• General
 

General

Insurance

We recommend that you obtain comprehensive travel and medical insurance before travelling. You should check any exclusions, and that your policy covers you for all the activities you want to undertake. This should include cover for medical treatment and evacuation, accidents, cancelled flights and stolen cash, credit cards, passport and luggage. For more general information see travel insurance.

If things do go wrong when you are overseas then this is how we can help.

Consular assistance and registration

There is no British Embassy in Burkina Faso. The British Ambassador to Burkina Faso resides in Accra. Our Honorary Consul, Mr Patrick de Leland, can only offer limited consular assistance in an emergency. His contact details are:

Mr Patrick de Lelande

Honorary Consulate of the UK in Burkina Faso
01 BP 6490 Ouagadougou 01 BURKINA FASO
Based at ICI, Initiatives Conseil International
Impasse Thévenoud, 330
Tel: +226 50 30 88 60
Fax: +226 50 31 25 43
E-mail: consulat-uk@fasonet.bf

The office is situated 150 metres from the Cathedral going towards City Hall on the right hand side. We recommend that British passport holders travelling to Burkina Faso register with the British High Commission in Accra using the  LOCATE service to tell us when and where you are travelling abroad or where you live abroad so our consular and crisis staff can provide better assistance to you in an emergency.

Money

Visa cards are accepted by a few of the larger hotels and restaurants in Ouagadougou (as are travellers' cheques denominated in Euros). You are unlikely to be able to use them anywhere outside the capital. Other brands of credit cards are not accepted. There are a few ATMs in Ouagadougou (Visa only). Travellers' cheques are exchangeable in banks in Ouagadougou.  Euro travellers' cheques are exchanged at the fixed rate prevailing between the CFA Franc and the Euro; exchange rates on other currency travellers' cheques can be poor. In general, and in particular outside Ouagadougou, you should ensure you have enough cash to cover any eventuality.