Financial Services

A number of sub-Saharan African countries have sought to introduce taxes on mobile transactions, in response to the sustained uptake prompted by the Covid-19 pandemic. While such moves have been met with criticism, they represent an opportunity to boost tax revenue significantly. The Covid-19 pandemic and its knock-on effects gave rise to a sharp increase in electronic...

Côte d’Ivoire’s banking sector has played a key role in the country’s post-2012 economic recovery and growth, financing large-scale infrastructure projects, private sector industrial expansion, agricultural activity and the services industry. Sector players have remained largely unchanged during this time, with 29 banks and two financial institutions operating in the country,...

Côte d’Ivoire’s importance as a regional centre for the insurance sector is growing, as an increasing number of pan-African players open offices and branches in Abidjan. The country has been a catalyst for the integration of public and private insurance stakeholders in the 14 member countries of the Inter-African Conference on Insurance Markets (Conférence Interafricaine des...

Although Côte d’Ivoire’s insurance sector is progressing each year and has a substantial direct and indirect impact on the economy and job creation, the penetration rate – measured as premium relative to GDP – remains low. While combined life and non-life insurance sector premium nearly doubled from CFA270bn ($464.1m) in 2015 to CFA462.7bn ($795.4m) in 2021, the 2-3% insurance...