Business
Ivory Coast Reopens for Business Despite Being Scarred by War
“Ivory Coast has many advantages, like a high level of education and its location as a gateway to the region,” said Dominique Lafont, CEO of Bollore Africa Logistics which operates port and railway concessions in Ivory Coast. “This government is eager to deliver, not just talk.”
Bollore, along with partners Bouygues and Maersk , will invest around 300 billion CFA francs ($618.91 million) in a second container terminal at the port of Abidjan.
Long-neglected in favor of agricultural commodities, mining is taking off with gold and manganese output rising rapidly. In fact, the oil ministry signed 18 production-sharing agreements in 18 months in 2012 and 2013, as investors bet Ivory Coast could emulate Ghana’s hydrocarbons boom. Companies including Anadarko , Tullow, Lukoil and Total drilled 10 wells last year alone – twice the number during the whole of the decade-long political crisis.
Interest in sectors from agribusiness to transportation and banking is booming. The government relaunched national carrier Air Cote d’Ivoire in 2012, with Air France holding a stake, aiming to restore Abidjan’s place as a regional hub.
The African Development Bank is returning its headquarters to Abidjan after 10 years in Tunis. Citigroup’s regional office has moved back from Dakar and Standard Bank plans to open its first West African office here.
“I very much hope that 2014 is the opportunity for people to invest in a significant way and join the economic growth and development taking place here,” Mark Simmonds, Britain’s Under Secretary of State for Africa, told Reuters in Abidjan.
“BAD HABITS”
But not all the news is good. While Ivory Coast was among the world’s top reformers last year according to the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business index, overall it still ranked 167th behind nations including Afghanistan, Syria and Equatorial Guinea.
