San Francisco Frontiers - Ivory Coast eyes 'national champion' firms to lead economy

In the heart of the Yopougon industrial zone on the outskirts of the capital Abidjan, women working on a production line fill thousands of bottles of shea butter-based cosmetics.

Amid the clamour of the machines, Fode Yattabare recounted to AFP how his company Kaera started in a small apartment in the late 2000s.

Now with 600 employees, it sells beauty products across West Africa and as far as Paris and Dubai -- around 30 countries in total.

"There is an ecosystem that's conducive to the emergence of entrepreneurs like us. That strengthens our confidence in the outlook," said Yattabare, who now hopes to conquer the European market.

Following the 2002–2011 politico-military crisis that severely weakened its economy, Ivory Coast has regained stability, with growth regularly above six percent, making it among the drivers of West Africa.

- 'National champions' -

"Ivory Coast remains one of the most stable countries in the region," said Regis Bamba, co-founder of Djamo.

"The infrastructure is excellent, the environment is safe, and so that attracts and reassures investors. It's easier for us to raise funds when we come from a politically stable country," he added.

A fintech start-up, launched in 2020, Djamo offers services halfway between traditional banking and mobile payments.

A simple solution that has already attracted two million users, most of whom did not have a bank account before.

Djamo, like Kaera and the fuel distributor Petro Ivoire, is among the country's "national champions" intended to be engines of economic development and to fuel small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

"That gives us a very heavy responsibility -- a responsibility to set an example," Sebastien Kadio-Morokro, head of Petro Ivoire, told AFP.

"It's the role of the state to make that initial massive investment, to create national champions who will in turn train, educate, create value, and then enable reinvestment," Bamba said.

Planning Minister Souleymane Diarrassouba agreed, adding he hopes to see "several hundred national champions" emerge through that model in the coming years.

As a sign of investor confidence, Ivory Coast last week secured in July $80 billion in international public financing -- four times more than expected -- for its 2026–2030 National Development Plan.

Nearly $150 billion more is expected from the private sector.

"This is the final phase of the strategy to make Ivory Coast an upper-middle-income country by 2030," explained economist Blaise Makaye, a researcher at the University of Bouake.

The designation would require a gross annual income per capita above $4,000 dollars, compared with present $2,700.

Despite a massive informal sector that accounts for nearly 90 percent of jobs, macroeconomic indicators are positive for Ivory Coast, notably with Fitch Ratings having lifted its sovereign assessment to BB in December.

- Digital age -

The West African nation grapples with high levels of bureaucracy and corruption, featuring on the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) money-laundering grey list.

Entrepreneurs are calling for increased digitalisation of the economy to facilitate transactions.

"The digitalisation of the administration also allows the state to broaden the tax base and thus to have more revenue to finance development," said Makaye, adding that recent oil and gas discoveries should also provide a boost.

The private sector has repeatedly called for accelerating the implementation of AfCFTA, the continent-wide free trade area that could open up a market of nearly 1.5 billion consumers.

"The main obstacle is the different standards and regulations between African countries. With AfCFTA, we could have greater harmonisation," said Yattabare.

"More free trade means more business, more ease, more value unlocked," Bamba said.

P.Thomas--SFF