Abidjan – On the initiative of the Government and with the support of the World Bank, the European Union, the African Development Bank and the United Nations system, the Government under the chairmanship of Head of State Alassane Ouattara is organizing a Consultation Group (CG) scheduled for June 15, 2022, at the Sofitel Abidjan Ivoire Hotel.
This advisory group aims to share Côte d’Ivoire’s vision contained in the National Development Plan (PND) 2021-2025 with all partners. It mainly aims to mobilize external public and private financing necessary for the implementation of the said plan which requires an investment level of about CFA 59,000 billion, including about CFA 4,3646.4 billion for the private sector or 74%.
This advisory group aims to provide the government with an international platform to present its vision and strategy to achieve the country’s growth and development goals. To obtain financing commitments from traditional development partners and emerging countries (China, Arab funds, bilateral aid and commercial loans from BRICS countries, etc.).
It will also be an opportunity for the government to provide investment opportunities in sectors with growth potential and to acquire the resulting investments. It will also relate to securing funding to close the annual financial gap needed to complete the overall financing of the National Development Program and to enhance coordination, alignment and partnerships between the government, bilateral and multilateral donors, and private investors.
The governance group should also make it possible to strengthen ties with “non-traditional” partners and investors such as sovereign wealth funds and emerging countries, and establish a system for monitoring financial commitments and flows integrated with a mechanism to monitor the implementation of the national development plan.
The advisory group will be structured around plenary sessions, group sessions, panel discussions, exchange of experience on business opportunities in Côte d’Ivoire, meetings between investors (B to B meetings), between investors and government authorities (B to II meetings) and free meetings and exchanges between participants.
It will bring together the government, bilateral and multilateral donors as well as sovereign wealth funds. The thematic sessions will be in the form of committees geared towards private investors and will aim to provide them with the investment and public-private partnership opportunities that Côte d’Ivoire offers within the framework of the implementation of the National Development Plan 2021-2025 and 2030 vision.
The overall objective of the National Development Plan 2021-2025 is to achieve the economic and social transformation necessary to raise Côte d’Ivoire, by 2030, to the rank of upper middle-income countries. This plan is structured around six (06) pillars. These include (1) accelerating the structural transformation of the economy through industrialization and cluster development; (ii) Human capital development and employment promotion; (3) private sector development and investment; (4) promoting inclusion, national solidarity and social action; (5) Balanced regional development, environmental preservation and combating climate change; (6) Strengthening governance, state modernization and cultural transformation.
The implementation of the National Development Plan 2021-2025 with the aim of accelerating the industrialization process in the country and ensuring a better distribution of the fruits of growth within the population should lead to an average growth rate over the period of 7, 65%.
As a reminder, two (02) national development plans have been developed and implemented, the National Development Plan for the period 2012-2015 and 2016-2020 in line with the prospective study “Cote d’Ivoire 2040”.
The implementation of the 2012-2015 National Development Plan made it possible to reposition Côte d’Ivoire among the countries with the strongest economic performance, with an average annual GDP growth rate of 9.6% during this period. As for the 2016-2020 National Development Plan, its implementation enabled the country to continue its development momentum during the 2016-2019 period, despite the unfavorable global context that is characterized in particular by trade tensions and low commodity prices.
In economic terms, the real GDP growth rate was 6.9%, which is much higher than the GDP growth rate in Sub-Saharan Africa. Thus, per capita income rose by 13.6% between 2016 and 2019, standing above $1,700, higher than that of Nigeria and Ghana.