Embassy of the United States Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire

For U.S. companies, the Ivorian market offers a number of opportunities as well as challenges.  The Ivoirian economy, the engine of the francophone West African economy is recovering from violence, damage to infrastructure and economic sanctions imposed during the post-election crisis as well as a political/military crisis in which the country was split in two.

Cote d’Ivoire is the largest economy in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), constituting 40 percent of the Union’s total GDP.  Perhaps best known as the world’s leading cocoa exporter, Cote d’Ivoire also exports coffee, palm oil, cotton, and rubber, among others making it the 4^th largest exporter of goods in sub-Saharan Africa behind South Africa, Nigeria, and Angola.  Oil has become one of Cote d’Ivoire’s leading exports, and the development of new gold mines in recent years in the central and northern areas of the country has also contributed to national economic growth.

Cote d’Ivoire has a relatively developed infrastructure when compared with other West African countries with an 82,000 km roadway system.  Abidjan, the country’s economic capital is home to the second largest port on the continent, as well as, a modern international airport with a wide network of air-routes offering connections with Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. 

The Ivorian government actively encourages foreign investment through mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, takeovers, or startups.  Cote d’Ivoire has an investment promotion center, CEPICI (centre des promotions des investissments en Cote d’Ivoire), which provides investment information and assistance for entrepreneurs interested in starting a business in Cote d’Ivoire. 

For additional information, please refer to following websites:

• Department of State (Background Notes),
• Department of State (Travel Info), http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1094.html
• Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/countrytemplate_iv.html
• African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA)
• Cote d’Ivoire Investment Promotion Center,
• Association Pour La Promotion Des Exportations De Cote d’Ivoire.