Côte d’Ivoire – Visit by Catherine Colonna (9-10 december 2022)

Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna will visit Côte d’Ivoire on December 9 and 10.

The minister will be received by President Alassane Ouattara. She will also meet with her counterpart, Kandia Kamissoko Camara, Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Integration and the Diaspora; Minister of Defense Téné Birahima Ouattara; Françoise Remarck, Minister of Culture and Francophonie; and Mamadou Touré, Minister for the Promotion of Youth, Youth Employment, Professional Integration and Civic Service.

They will discuss ways to deepen the French-Ivorian partnership. France is Côte d’Ivoire’s leading partner in the area of cooperation, with €4.9 billion euros in public investments for the period of 2021-2025. With regard to business, 840 French companies are operating in Côte d’Ivoire, which is France’s leading trading partner within the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU).

The minister will meet with Ivorian artists, creators, intellectuals and entrepreneurs. Her visit to Côte d’Ivoire will also provide an opportunity to move forward with the reinvigorated partnership between Africa and France, in keeping with President Macron’s speech at the University of Ouagadougou in November 2017 and the New Africa-France Summit in Montpellier in October 2021, in which more than 70 young Ivorians took part.

Lastly, the minister will bestow the Franco-German Prize for Human Rights upon Mégane Boho, president of the Ivorian League for Women’s Rights. Gender equality is a priority in our relationship with Côte d’Ivoire, as reflected by concrete projects in healthcare and education. We will bestow the insignia of the Order of Arts and Letters upon fashion designer and entrepreneur Maureen Ayité.