Ivory Coast

Business Environment

Côte d’Ivoire has established itself as the economic anchor of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU or Union), an integrated market of more than 151 million people across eight States (Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo) sharing a single currency, a common central bank (BCEAO), a regional stock exchange (BRVM) and harmonised business laws under OHADA.

With a GDP of approximately EUR 87 billion in 2025, Côte d’Ivoire alone generates close to 39% of the Union’s output. Abidjan hosts the BRVM, the African Development Bank and the OHADA Common Court of Justice and Arbitration (CCJA), making it the natural regional platform for investors.

The BCEAO’s 2025 Annual Report confirms the momentum of the region. WAEMU GDP grew by 6.7% in 2025 (6.2% in 2024), inflation fell to 0.0%, the fiscal deficit narrowed to 3.7% of GDP and the balance of payments recorded a surplus of approximately EUR 10.7 billion. All eight Member States grew by more than 5%: Senegal (7.8%), Benin (7.5%), Niger (6.9%), Burkina Faso (6.5%), Côte d’Ivoire (6.5%), Togo (6.2%), Mali (6.1%) and Guinea-Bissau (5.5%).

In 2026, following a presidential election in October 2025 which ensured policy continuity, Côte d’Ivoire launched its National Development Plan (PND 2026–2030). Its envelope of approximately EUR 175 billion relies on the private sector for roughly 70% of its financing, mainly through public-private partnerships (PPPs), concessions and project finance.

Improving sovereign ratings (Fitch BB in December 2025, JCR BB+ positive in July 2026) place the country on the path to investment grade.

Regional risks nonetheless require a country-by-country approach: Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger left ECOWAS in January 2025 while remaining WAEMU members, and Senegal is finalising a new IMF programme following the revision of its public debt.

Changes in 2026 versus 2025

Key regulatory developments in 2026 include:

-       Adoption of the new WAEMU Directive on public procurement. At its third ordinary session of 2026, held in Dakar on 2 October 2026, the WAEMU Council of Ministers adopted the Directive on the Community Regulation of Public Procurement, which aims to strengthen Member States’ capacity to absorb investment appropriations and to speed up contract award procedures. This Directive results from the revision of Directives No. 04/2005/CM/UEMOA and No. 05/2005/CM/UEMOA on public procurement and public service delegations (DSP), a mandate entrusted to CLKA Law Firm. Our approach consisted in decoupling DSPs from public procurement and consolidating procurement rules into a single directive. Its transposition into national codes will reshape tender procedures, time limits and remedies across the Union.

-       Transposition of the WAEMU PPP Directive. Directive No. 01/2022/CM/UEMOA of 30 September 2022 on the legal and institutional framework of PPPs is currently being transposed by Member States. Until national frameworks are aligned, investors must verify which regime applies to their project, notably for unsolicited proposals and State guarantees.

-       Launch of the PND 2026–2030 and creation of new counterparts for investors: the CI-Investment Board (successor to CEPICI), the National Artificial Intelligence Agency (ANIA) and an Ivorian sovereign fund.

-       Reform of the BCEAO framework: designation of the BCEAO as Macroprudential Authority, reduction of its main key rate from 3.50% to 3.25% (June 2025), revision of the usury rate and new AML/CFT customer due diligence (KYC) instructions.

-       Modernisation of payments: launch of the instant payment platform (PI-SPI), new licensing regime for payment institutions (30 licences granted, including 9 in Côte d’Ivoire) and preparation of a crypto-asset regulation.

-       Ongoing revision in Côte d’Ivoire of the Mining Code, the petroleum framework and banking legislation (Islamic finance, FinTech, electronic money).

Advantages of Côte d’Ivoire as a Business Location

-       Strategic Position: Gateway, through the ports of Abidjan and San Pedro, to landlocked WAEMU countries.

-       Economic Leadership: Close to 39% of WAEMU GDP, 6 to 7% annual growth and one of the best sovereign ratings in sub-Saharan Africa.

-       Legal Certainty: Membership in OHADA and WAEMU ensures harmonised business laws across the region.

-       Dispute Resolution: Specialised commercial courts operating in Abidjan since 2012, the Abidjan Court of Arbitration (CACI) and the seat of the CCJA.

-       Robust Banking Sector: 160 credit institutions in the WAEMU with an average solvency ratio of 14.7%, under BCEAO oversight.

-       PPP Experience: One of the most diversified PPP portfolios in Africa, steered by the National Steering Committee for PPPs (CNP-PPP).

Business Structures

Investors may operate under several legal forms governed by the OHADA Uniform Act on Commercial Companies and Economic Interest Groups, the most popular being:

-       SARL (Limited Liability Company): Popular among SMEs and wholly-owned subsidiaries.

-       SA (Public Limited Company): Preferred for large enterprises and mandatory for certain regulated activities (banking, insurance) and for listing on the BRVM; minimum share capital of FCFA 10 million, with a choice between a Board of Directors and a sole Managing Director (Administrateur Général) for companies with three shareholders or fewer.

-       SAS (Simplified Joint-Stock Company): Highly flexible governance freely organised by the by-laws; increasingly favoured for joint ventures, project companies, private equity structures and start-ups.

-       SNC / GIE / Cooperatives : For professional or cooperative ventures and pooling arrangements.

-       Branch / Representative Office: For foreign entities wishing to operate under parent company control. Under OHADA law, a branch must in principle be contributed to a local company within two years of its creation, unless an exemption is granted by ministerial order.

The OHADA Uniform Act on Commercial Companies and Economic Interest Groups governs company formation, management and restructuring, while the Uniform Act on Security Interests governs the guarantee packages (mortgages, pledges over shares, receivables and bank accounts, security agent mechanisms) that underpin project and acquisition financings.

How to Invest in Côte d’Ivoire

Foreign investors can incorporate a local company, acquire existing businesses, enter into joint ventures or contract directly with public authorities. The CEPICI (Centre de Promotion des Investissements en Côte d’Ivoire) operates as a one-stop shop for company registration, licensing and tax identification, and is set to evolve into the CI-Investment Board under the PND 2026–2030.

The Investment Code (Ordinance No. 2018-646 of 1 August 2018) grants tax and customs incentives under declaration and approval regimes, with enhanced benefits for projects located outside Abidjan and in priority sectors such as agro-industry, energy, infrastructure, digital and health.

In our experience, four routes give access to the PND pipeline: (i) PPPs and concessions, the preferred route for roads, rail, ports, water, energy, hospitals and schools, overseen by the CNP-PPP and being harmonised with the WAEMU PPP Directive; (ii) public procurement, now set to be reshaped by the new WAEMU Directive of 2 October 2026; (iii) incentive regimes under the Investment Code and preferential regimes for structuring projects; and (iv) project and capital-markets finance, combining bond issues on the WAEMU regional market, structured bank financing and blended finance with development finance institutions. From an Abidjan platform, investors can then extend operations to the other seven WAEMU Member States, which share the same currency, central bank, banking regulation and OHADA business law.

Economy

Currency Strength

The West African CFA franc (XOF) is pegged to the euro at a fixed parity of EUR 1 = FCFA 655.957, with unlimited convertibility guaranteed by the French Treasury. Since the 2019–2020 reform of the monetary cooperation framework, France no longer sits on the governing bodies of the BCEAO and the BCEAO is no longer required to deposit half of its reserves with the French Treasury, while the peg and the convertibility guarantee have been preserved.

In 2025, the BCEAO’s net external assets increased by FCFA 9,159.7 billion, reinforcing the credibility of the peg. Work on the ECOWAS single currency (Eco) roadmap continues, but any transition would be gradual and prepared at regional level.

Inflation Rates

Inflation in the WAEMU averaged 0.0% in 2025, down from 3.5% in 2024, reflecting improved domestic food supply (cereal output up 7.7%) and lower prices of imported food and energy. In Côte d’Ivoire, the harmonised consumer price index was virtually flat in 2025 after a 3.5% increase in 2024. This disinflation allowed the BCEAO to ease policy rates in June 2025; the weighted average interbank rate on the one-week segment fell from 6.03% to 5.32%, and private-sector bank credit grew by 5.6% (against 3.6% in 2024).

Main Trade Sectors

-       Retail and Distribution: Driven by urbanisation and a youthful consumer base, the sector is expanding through shopping malls, convenience stores and e-commerce, supported by instant and mobile payments. Abidjan remains the primary hub, with growing activity in Bouaké, San Pedro and Korhogo.

-       Industrialization: Local processing is a priority of the PND, which allocates approximately EUR 4.8 billion to processing companies and EUR 1.4 billion to agropoles, supported by industrial zones such as PK24 and Yopougon.

-       Tourism, Hospitality and Real Estate: Hospitality and mixed-use developments are growing in Abidjan and secondary cities. The PND allocates approximately EUR 5.5 billion to decent housing and EUR 3.6 billion to sustainable urban development, opening opportunities in affordable housing PPPs and real estate finance.

-       Agriculture: Côte d’Ivoire remains the world’s leading cocoa producer, despite a 9.5% drop in the 2025/2026 crop, and is diversifying fast (cashew production +58.8% in 2025, Africa’s leading rubber producer). Traceability, including under the EU Deforestation Regulation, and rural land security are now key legal issues.

-       Energy: The mining, hydrocarbons and energy sector concentrates nearly a third of the PND (approximately EUR 54.5 billion), including its largest single action, oil and gas logistics infrastructure (approximately EUR 25.4 billion), as well as refining (EUR 7.5 billion), power generation and distribution (EUR 3.1 billion) and renewables (EUR 1.8 billion). The Eni-operated Baleine field and the Calao discovery confirm the country’s offshore potential, while WAEMU crude production rose by 64.6% in 2025, driven by Senegal and Niger.

-       Mining: WAEMU gold production reached approximately 218 tonnes in 2025 (+6.7%), including +6.0% in Côte d’Ivoire. The revision of the 2014 Mining Code, stronger State involvement in the precious metals chain and tighter local content requirements are reshaping the investment equation, while new mining codes in the Sahelian States call for careful review of titles and stabilisation clauses.

-       Infrastructure: The infrastructure pillar of the PND (approximately EUR 59 billion) covers rail and inter-city mobility (EUR 5 billion), interurban roads (EUR 4.3 billion), Greater Abidjan works (EUR 2.6 billion) and water and sanitation (over EUR 3.5 billion). Flagship projects include Abidjan Metro Line 1 (approximately EUR 1.3 billion, expected in 2028–2029) and a proposed 640-km high-speed rail line. Most will be awarded under the new procurement Directive or the PPP framework.

-       Telecom/ICT/FinTech: The PND devotes approximately EUR 8.75 billion to the digital economy, including EUR 2.5 billion for digital infrastructure (fibre, satellites, data centres) and EUR 1.7 billion for artificial intelligence. Combined with high mobile penetration and new payment regulations, this makes Côte d’Ivoire one of the most dynamic FinTech markets in francophone Africa.

Current Opportunities & Future Prospects

Current Opportunities

-       PND-linked PPPs and concessions in transport, water, energy, health and education, with risk allocation, sovereign support and financial-balance clauses at the heart of the negotiation.

-       Public works and services contracts under the reformed WAEMU procurement framework, designed to speed up award procedures and the disbursement of investment budgets across all eight Member States.

-       Energy and extractive value chains: oil and gas logistics, refining and storage, power generation and transmission, renewables, mineral processing and precious-metals refining.

-       Agribusiness industrialisation, agropoles, cashew and cocoa processing, the blue economy and food security investments.

-       Digital infrastructure and AI: data centres, fibre, satellite capacity, cybersecurity and e-government.

-       Financial services: payment institutions, electronic money, Islamic finance, microfinance consolidation, and debt and equity issuances on the BRVM and the regional public securities market.

-      Regional plays from an Abidjan base: Senegal’s oil and gas services, Niger’s export pipeline economy, Benin’s and Togo’s industrial and logistics platforms, and Sahelian infrastructure and mining needs.

Future Prospects

-      Youth-driven demand: Over 60% of the population is under 25, driving innovation in mobile services, e-commerce, creative industries and consumer goods, and accelerating the adoption of fintech, edtech and entertainment platforms.

-      Technology, Telecom and Media Expansion: Mobile internet, fintech, streaming and digital advertising are growing rapidly. With the PND’s AI and digital-sovereignty agenda and the creation of ANIA, the regulatory framework is under construction — an opportunity for investors to engage early with new institutional counterparts.

-      Green economy and sustainable finance: Reforestation, carbon credit programmes and renewable energy investment are scaling up, while the BCEAO is finalising its Climate Strategy in 2026, opening the door to green bonds, sustainability-linked financings and ESG-aligned impact investment.

-      Abidjan Metro Project: The 37-km Line 1, now targeted for commercial operation in 2028–2029, is expected to transform urban mobility and generate long-term value in transit-oriented real estate, retail and tech-enabled urban services.

-      Sovereign fund and capital-market deepening: The creation of an Ivorian sovereign fund and the development of the regional financial market (BRVM, AMF-UMOA) should broaden co-investment and listing opportunities, including project bonds backed by structuring assets.

-      Regional and continental integration: The opinion favouring BCEAO and UMOA bank participation in PAPSS, the AfCFTA and continued work on ECOWAS monetary cooperation should facilitate cross-border trade and payments beyond the WAEMU.

-      Tourism and Cultural Infrastructure: Investment in historic sites, cultural festivals and tourism corridors, coupled with improved air and land access, creates room for sustainable hospitality investment.

-      Education and Human Capital Ventures: The PND’s human-capital pillar is driving opportunities in edtech, vocational training, private universities and school PPPs.

-      Pharmaceutical and Health Industry Localisation: Policy momentum to reduce dependency on imported medicines continues to create incentives for local drug production, biotech investment and hospital infrastructure, notably through health PPPs.

Legal System

Operation of the Legal System

Côte d’Ivoire’s legal system is civil law-based and harmonised under OHADA (Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa), whose Uniform Acts apply directly in 17 African States. The CCJA, seated in Abidjan, acts as supreme court for OHADA matters and as an arbitration centre. WAEMU community law (public procurement, PPPs, banking, exchange control, competition) applies alongside. At national level, the Commercial Court of Abidjan and the Commercial Court of Appeal handle business disputes, increasingly through digitalised procedures (E-Tribcom), and the CACI offers institutional arbitration and mediation.

Regulatory Environment

Investors must comply with sector-specific authorisations (mining, energy, telecoms, banking, insurance) and are subject to taxation and social contributions regulated by the General Tax Code and the Labour Code.

Key regulators include the BCEAO and the WAMU Banking Commission, the regional financial market authority (AMF-UMOA), ARTCI for telecoms and data protection, and the ARCOP for public procurement. As several frameworks are under revision (public procurement, PPPs, mining, petroleum, banking), investing today means anticipating tomorrow’s rules.

Foreign Investment Restrictions

Direct Investment

There is generally no restriction on foreign ownership of companies.

However, strategic natural resources are subject to licences and local content requirements, while regulated sectors such as banking, payments, telecoms, media and insurance are subject to prior licensing. Rural land ownership is reserved to the State, public entities and Ivorian nationals; foreign investors generally secure land through long-term leases. Land due diligence therefore remains the first step of any infrastructure, real estate or agro-industrial project.

Foreign Capital and Exchange Controls

Exchange control is harmonised across the WAEMU under Regulation No. 06/2024/CM/UEMOA, in force since 20 December 2024. Foreign investors may freely repatriate capital, dividends and other investment proceeds, provided that transfers are made through approved banks and supported by the required documentation.

Direct investments, foreign loans, intra-group financing and certain capital operations remain subject to declaration and, in some cases, prior BCEAO authorisation, while export proceeds must be repatriated through approved banks.

Investors should integrate these obligations at the structuring stage to avoid delays in fund flows or regulatory sanctions.

Top Tips Before Investing

-      Choose the Right Corporate Structure: SARL, SA or SAS under OHADA law, with the holding and financing structure designed upfront for tax, exchange-control and exit purposes.

-      Map your PND counterpart early: Identify the relevant ministry, the CNP-PPP, the CI-Investment Board or the new agencies (ANIA, sovereign fund), whose procedures and doctrines are still being set — early engagement secures entry.

-      Track the new WAEMU procurement Directive: Monitor its transposition into national codes and its impact on award procedures, timelines, thresholds and bid challenges in each target Member State.

-      Do not mistake a plan cost for a financing commitment: PND amounts are project costs; the share actually contracted, and through which instrument, must be confirmed project by project.

-      Secure land and local content upstream: Title, customary rights, resettlement and local-content obligations are the most frequent sources of disputes and delays.

-      Build exchange-control compliance into the deal: Declarations, domiciliation and authorisations under Regulation No. 06/2024/CM/UEMOA should be mapped before the first transfer.

-      Understand tax and customs incentives: Eligibility and approval conditions under the Investment Code, and the stabilisation of advantages over time, should be secured contractually.

-      Draft the dispute resolution clause carefully: Choice of seat and institution (CCJA, CACI, ICC), interplay with OHADA law and applicable investment treaties condition the outcome of any future dispute.

-      Plan for compliance: Labour law, data protection, AML/CFT and sectoral codes must be integrated from day one.

-      Read the region country by country: The WAEMU offers a single currency and harmonised law, but sovereign risk, resource policies, governance and security conditions differ markedly between Member States.

Summary for Clients

Côte d’Ivoire stands out as the leading investment destination in francophone West Africa and the anchor of a fast-growing WAEMU. The PND 2026–2030, with approximately EUR 175 billion of which 70% is expected from the private sector, opens an investment cycle of unprecedented scale in energy, mining, infrastructure, agribusiness, digital and financial services.

The regulatory environment is evolving in parallel. The new WAEMU public procurement Directive adopted on 2 October 2026 aims to accelerate the execution of public investment across the eight Member States; the BCEAO has eased monetary policy, assumed macroprudential powers and modernised the payments landscape through PI-SPI and new licensing regimes; and sector codes, the PPP framework and banking law are under revision in Côte d’Ivoire.

These changes create opportunities, but also transition risks, for sponsors, contractors, lenders and operators.

Meanwhile, projects such as the Baleine offshore field, the Abidjan Metro, the planned high-speed rail line and the PND’s energy logistics programme illustrate the momentum behind transformative investments. Navigating local content obligations, land tenure, sector-specific licensing, public procurement and PPP rules, and BCEAO exchange regulations — and reading regional risk country by country — requires informed local guidance.

Having led the revision of the WAEMU public procurement directives and advising on PPP and infrastructure projects across the region from Abidjan, Mauritius and New York, CLKA Law Firm is well placed to assist investors at every stage, from structuring and tendering to financing, execution and dispute resolution.

Foreign investors are encouraged to engage early with the relevant public counterparts and accredited financial institutions, to partner with experienced legal counsel with regional reach, and to make full use of national investment facilitation bodies such as CEPICI and the forthcoming CI-Investment Board to secure a smooth market entry and a long-term presence across the WAEMU.