Côte d'Ivoire

Development

France is Côte d’Ivoire’s leading bilateral donor. In June 2012, Côte d’Ivoire reached the completion point of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. In July 2012, we signed a bilateral agreement which provided for the clear cancellation of commercial debt of €913 million and additional cancellation of €2.9 billion, via the debt reduction and development contract (C2D) mechanism. The purpose of C2D is to finance fundamental development programmes. In practical terms, the debt repayments are made, then immediately refunded to the recipient country to finance jointly defined projects. The AFD is the agency in charge of this.

For example, the first C2D (€630 million) improved drinking water access for 580,000 Ivorians and created jobs for 2,000 young people through labour-intensive projects. The second C2D (2015-2020) involves a total of €1.125 billion. The six main sectors are the same as those under the first C2D: urban development, decentralization, water and sanitation (€195 million); education, training and employment (€191 million); transport infrastructure (€191 million), agriculture, rural development and biodiversity (€122 million); health and social protection (€68 million); and justice (€8 million, raised to €62 million in 2016). €335 million will be earmarked for budget support and a reserve, to be allocated gradually.

In 2016, the AFD resumed its sovereign loan activities with a loan of €120 million in the area of energy. Further sovereign loans are planned for the health, infrastructure and education sectors.

European Union cooperation efforts include the 11th European Development Fund (EDF) with an envelope of €273 million for three sectors: energy (€139 million), agriculture (€60 million), and state-building and peacebuilding (€60 million).