SEMAFO Announces Appointment of VP Corporate Development and Investor Relations

Montreal, Quebec, December 5, 2017 - SEMAFO Inc. (TSX, OMX: SMF) is pleased to announce the appointment of John Jentz, (CA, CPA) as Vice President, Corporate Development and Investor Relations, effective December 4, 2017. Mr. Jentz will report directly to Benoit Desormeaux, the Corporation's President and Chief Executive Officer.

Mr. Jentz will be responsible for communicating the Corporation's growth strategy in addition to leading its ongoing business development efforts. He will be based in Toronto.

Mr. Jentz is a financial professional with over 20 years' experience in corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions mostly within the mining sector. He has worked at a variety of global, national and independent investment banking firms. Mr. Jentz has an MBA and an undergraduate degree in actuarial science.

Mr. Jentz succeeds Robert LaVallière, Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Affairs, who will retire at the end of this year after heading up SEMAFO's Investor Relations department since 2012. During his tenure, Robert was instrumental in developing the Corporation's program of transparent communication with the investment community, which helped propel SEMAFO along its growth path.  We thank him for his contribution over the past five years and wish him a happy and healthy retirement.

About SEMAFO
SEMAFO is a Canadian-based mining company with gold production and exploration activities in West Africa.  The Corporation operates the Mana Mine in Burkina Faso, which includes the high-grade satellite deposit of Siou, and is targeting production start-up of the Boungou Mine in the third quarter of 2018.  SEMAFO's strategic focus is to maximize shareholder value by effectively managing its existing assets as well as pursuing organic and strategic growth opportunities.

The information in this release is subject to the disclosure requirements of SEMAFO under the Swedish Securities Market Act and/or the Swedish Financial Instruments Trading Act. This information was publicly communicated on December 5, 2017 at 7:00 a.m., Eastern Standard Time.

For more information, contact:

SEMAFO
Robert LaVallière
Vice-President, Corporate Affairs & Investor Relations
E-mail: [email protected]
Cell: +1 (514) 240 2780

Ruth Hanna
Analyst, Investor Relations
E-mail: [email protected]

Tel. local & overseas: +1 (514) 744 4408
North America Toll-Free: 1 (888) 744 4408
Website: www.semafo.com