The verdict in three sentences
For a mining services contractor based in Ouagadougou (drilling, haulage, maintenance), the corporate website has become part of the supplier prequalification file that gold majors' procurement teams, often run from London, Toronto or Johannesburg, review before issuing a tender. A realistic 2026 budget is 5,000,000 to 9,000,000 FCFA excl. VAT (about 7,620 to 13,720 EUR) for a French-English site with HSE pages, ISO 45001 certification, equipment fleet and ESG reports, then about 120,000 FCFA a month (about 183 EUR) for maintenance. The return shows up as tender invitations and time saved on supplier questionnaires.
What major mining buyers check on your website
Procurement departments at gold producers operating in Burkina Faso, Mali or Côte d'Ivoire use very similar prequalification grids. Before opening a file, a buyer or HSE manager spends a few minutes on the contractor's website. They look for hard figures, not slogans.
| Expected content | What to publish | Why the buyer looks at it |
|---|---|---|
| Safety indicators | Lost time injury frequency rate (LTIFR) and severity rate over 3 years, hours worked without incident | Pass/fail criterion at most majors |
| Certifications | ISO 45001, ISO 14001, ISO 9001 with number and expiry date | Cross-checked with the certification body |
| Local content | Share of Burkinabe staff (often 85 to 95%), national managers, local subcontractors | Required by the 2024 Mining Code and ESG policies |
| Fleet and equipment | Drill rigs, trucks, plant by type, average age, availability rate | Real capacity to deliver a contract |
| Capacity per site | Sites served, deployable headcount, mobilization lead time (15 to 45 days) | Start-up risk assessment |
| References | Mines served, scope of services, contract duration | Proof of comparable experience |
| ESG report | Downloadable annual PDF, community projects, water use | Required by lenders and majors' shareholders |
A website that publishes this information in a structured way shortens the supplier questionnaire. Sales teams go from 3 or 4 days of document collection to less than one day, since most of it is already online and up to date.
2026 budget: three levels of mining corporate website
The amounts below are 2026 ballpark figures observed for West African mining services companies. They include design, technical copywriting, English translation and launch.
| Level | Scope | Budget excl. VAT | Lead time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corporate Standard | 15 to 20 FR/EN pages, HSE and certification pages, references, supplier form | 5,000,000 to 6,500,000 FCFA (7,620 to 9,910 EUR) | 8 to 10 weeks |
| Corporate Plus | Standard + one sheet per equipment item, site map, HSE dashboard updated via CMS | 6,500,000 to 8,000,000 FCFA (9,910 to 12,200 EUR) | 10 to 12 weeks |
| Corporate Premium | Plus + interactive ESG report, secure document room for buyers, approval workflow | 8,000,000 to 9,000,000 FCFA (12,200 to 13,720 EUR) | 12 to 14 weeks |
| Maintenance | Hosting, backups, security, indicator updates | 120,000 FCFA per month (183 EUR) | Ongoing |
| Photo and drone shoot | Fleet, workshops, on-site teams (2 days) | 900,000 to 1,500,000 FCFA | 1 to 2 weeks |
| Technical translation | English review by a mining-specialist translator | 350,000 to 700,000 FCFA | 1 week |
The most underestimated item is content production. Equipment sheets, HSE indicators and references require the operations department to supply reliable data. Plan for an internal lead who dedicates 2 to 3 days a month to the project during the design phase.
Recommended architecture and watch points
The site must load fast on camp connections, often limited to a few Mbit/s. An HSE page over 3 MB or an autoplay video will lose a safety manager browsing from the mine site. Aim for a load time under 2.5 seconds on 4G.
The CMS should let the HSE manager update indicators every quarter without going through the agency. A two-level approval flow (HSE then managing director) prevents a wrong figure from going live. ISO certificates are published with their expiry date, and an internal alert fires 60 days before renewal.
Finally, the buyer-only document room (tax certificates, insurance policies, procedures) sits behind a login. It is a strong asset during supplier audits, which can last 2 to 5 days on site.
Need a professional website?
Kolonell builds websites that attract clients, optimized for the Sénégalese market. Free quote in 2 minutes.
Mini case study
Issouf, managing director of a drilling and haulage contractor in Ouagadougou (210 staff, 18 drill rigs, 45 trucks), answered about 12 prequalification questionnaires a year. Each file took 3.5 days of a manager's time, or 42 days a year, valued at 75,000 FCFA a day: 3,150,000 FCFA of internal cost. With a Corporate Plus site at 7,200,000 FCFA excl. VAT and 1,440,000 FCFA of annual maintenance, time per file drops to 1 day, saving 2,250,000 FCFA a year. The real gain lies elsewhere: two extra tender invitations from a major, for a 180,000,000 FCFA haulage contract over 24 months. A single contract won pays back the site more than twenty times.
FAQ
Should we really publish our injury frequency rates?
Yes, if your figures are under control: buyers ask for them in 100% of questionnaires. Publishing a 3-year LTIFR with its calculation method builds more trust than having no indicator at all.
Does the site need to be in English?
Most majors have English-speaking procurement teams in London, Toronto or Johannesburg. A full English version adds 15 to 20% to the budget, or 750,000 to 1,500,000 FCFA, and it is essential.
How long does it take to go live?
Allow 8 to 14 weeks depending on the level. The timeline depends mostly on gathering HSE data and fleet photos, which often takes 3 to 4 weeks.
What does maintenance at 120,000 FCFA a month include?
CDN hosting, daily backups, security patches, 99.9% uptime monitoring and 2 hours of content updates per month.
Can we add a careers module to recruit locally?
Yes, a careers module with CV upload costs 400,000 to 800,000 FCFA and strengthens your local content story, often weighted at 10 or 15% of the ESG score.
Let's scope your project. A bilingual corporate site with HSE, fleet and ESG pages, indicative budget of 5,000,000 to 9,000,000 FCFA excl. VAT, live in 8 to 14 weeks. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
