Industry & Retail
From The Report: Cote d'Ivoire 2020
View in Online Reader

Government initiatives to strengthen Côte d’Ivoire’s industrial base have continued to yield results. However, despite public investment and government policies that have attracted private participation to the industrial sector, 2020 is likely to be a challenging year, with firms waiting to invest due to supply chain disruptions and the negative demand-side effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, current policies and investments already under way leave the country’s industrial sector well positioned for continued growth over the medium and long term. Moreover, the rising number of internet users, which reached 12m in 2018, has fuelled opportunities in e-commerce. While Côte d’Ivoire, like the rest of the world, is experiencing a decline in non-essential retail sales as a result of the global spread of Covid-19, the foundation for long-term growth in the sector is strong. This chapter contains an interview with Souleymane Diarrassouba, Minister of Commerce and Industry; and Abdelmajid Touzani, Regional Director for West Africa, Bühler.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Building on the basics: The sector continues to focus on agricultural processing and poultry, while making plans to expand into automotive assembly
OBG
plus

Government initiatives to strengthen Côte d’Ivoire’s industrial base have continued to yield results. Following the August 2018 implementation of the new Investment Code, which was modified one year later, companies operating in agro-industry – one of the main pillars of the industrial sector – have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in processing facilities, as well as established poultry operations (see analysis). Moreover, public investment in the country’s industrial…

Overview

Building on the basics: The sector continues to focus on agricultural processing and poultry, while making plans to expand into automotive assembly
OBG
plus

Government initiatives to strengthen Côte d’Ivoire’s industrial base have continued to yield results. Following the August 2018 implementation of the new Investment Code, which was modified one year later, companies operating in agro-industry – one of the main pillars of the industrial sector – have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in processing facilities, as well as established poultry operations (see analysis). Moreover, public investment in the country’s industrial…

Interview

Accelerated growth: Souleymane Diarrassouba, Minister of Commerce and Industry, on harnessing free trade and e-commerce to support economic development and boost employment
OBG
plus

Interview:Souleymane Diarrassouba Which industrial segments hold the greatest potential for growth in Côte d’Ivoire? SOULEYMANE DIARRASSOUBA: The government’s stated goal under its industrialisation plan is to significantly increase the contribution of the industrial sector to wealth creation and employment. Specifically, this involves strengthening the link between production and processing to create more added value, along with decent and sustainable jobs, while also creating new industrial…

Interview

Capacity building: Abdelmajid Touzani, Regional Director for West Africa, Bühler, on harnessing digitalisation and financing to boost agri-business
OBG
plus

Interview:Abdelmajid Touzani In what ways can the government and the private sector further promote raw materials processing? ABDELMAJID TOUZANI: Upon Côte d’Ivoire’s independence, President Félix Houphouët-Boigny invested a lot of financial resources in to making agriculture the base of the Ivorian economy. Currently, the agriculture sector employs almost 70% of the total workforce and provides 20% of GDP, as well as accounting for 40% of the country’s exports. However, the quantity…

Analysis

Rise and grind: Benefitting from new incentives, investment pledges made in 2019 are set to significantly boost raw cocoa processing
OBG
plus

Côte d’Ivoire has recently attracted a raft of investments that are set to increase the country’s capacity to process its raw agricultural production. These follow government initiatives to develop the agro-industrial segment and boost local value addition, which are among the country’s top economic goals. Cocoa Grinding Agro-industrial companies involved in cocoa have made some of the largest recent investments in Côte d’Ivoire’s processing capacity. In March 2019 Swiss chocolatier…

Overview

Outsized impact: Support for small and medium-sized enterprises is increasingly recognised as key to sustainable growth – Cote d’Ivoire
OBG
plus

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the engines of global economic growth and employment, accounting for an average of 33% of GDP and 45% of the workforce in high-income countries, and over 60% of GDP and 70% of employment in developing economies. In the case of the latter, the rise in the number of SMEs has been crucial to economic diversification and resilience, particularly in countries vulnerable to commodity price fluctuations. By creating employment opportunities for traditionally economically marginalised groups, such as women, migrants, youths and minorities, SMEs have also been credited with democratising the labour…

Analysis

Positive trend: Rising demand encourages growth of e-commerce services and sparks competition among retailers
OBG
plus

Côte d’Ivoire’s burgeoning middle class and economic growth has supported the steady development of the retail sector in recent years. According to the World Bank, the share of Ivorians living on less than $1.90 per day fell from 34% in 2011 to 28% in 2015, the most recent year for which this information is available. In the wake of economic progress and improved political stability, the country has seen the expansion of shopping malls and supermarkets. Moreover, the rising number of…