Côte d’Ivoire’s approved private investment rose 9.6 percent in 2025 to 812 billion CFA francs (about $1.45 billion), the country’s investment promotion agency said on Thursday, pointing to sustained economic momentum in West Africa’s fastest-growing economies.
The figure compares with 741 billion CFA francs recorded in 2024, according to the Centre de Promotion des Investissements en Côte d’Ivoire (CEPICI), which released the data during its annual review in Abidjan.
“This progress is mainly driven by the agriculture and agropastoral sector. We are also seeing growth among small and medium-sized enterprises involved in raw materials processing,” CEPICI Director General Solange Amichia said.
She added that services, telecommunications, information technology, audiovisual production and training had also contributed significantly to the increase in approved investment.
Reform push under new agenda
For 2026, the agency plans to intensify reforms under its Agenda 2026–2028 programme, aimed at further improving the business climate and accelerating structural transformation.
The roadmap includes streamlining administrative procedures for investors, developing industrial clusters identified in the National Development Plan 2021–2025 and advancing renewable energy projects to support industrialisation.
Côte d’Ivoire has recorded average economic growth of more than 6 percent annually since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, supported by public investment, expanding agricultural output and a recovery in services. The government has sought to consolidate these gains by strengthening regulatory frameworks and promoting private sector participation.
International rating agencies have cited the country’s economic resilience in maintaining stable outlooks. Moody’s assigns Côte d’Ivoire a Ba3 rating with a stable outlook, while Fitch Ratings upgraded the country to BB with a stable outlook. S&P Global Ratings maintains a BB-minus rating with a stable outlook.
Progress toward investment targets
Under the National Development Plan 2021–2025, Côte d’Ivoire aims to mobilise 6.4 trillion CFA francs in private investment.
According to CEPICI, cumulative private investment mobilised over the 2021–2025 period has reached 4.242 trillion CFA francs, representing about 66 percent of the target set for the five-year programme.
The government has introduced several measures to enhance the business environment, including the Programme d’appui à l’amélioration du climat des affaires en Côte d’Ivoire (PACA-CI), launched in 2023 to stimulate investment and improve competitiveness.
Authorities say continued reforms, coupled with macroeconomic stability and infrastructure development, are expected to sustain investor interest as the country prepares the next phase of its development strategy.
Côte d’Ivoire has positioned private sector-led growth at the centre of its development strategy over the past decade, following years of political instability that ended in 2011. Since then, the government has prioritised infrastructure investment, agricultural modernisation and regulatory reforms to restore investor confidence and accelerate economic expansion.
The Centre de Promotion des Investissements en Côte d’Ivoire (CEPICI) was created to serve as a one-stop shop for investors, streamlining business registration and facilitating project approvals. It plays a key role in implementing reforms designed to improve the country’s ranking in global business climate assessments and attract both domestic and foreign capital.
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Under the National Development Plan (PND) 2021–2025, authorities aim to transform Côte d’Ivoire into an upper-middle-income economy by boosting industrialisation and increasing value-added processing of agricultural products such as cocoa, cashew nuts and rubber. Agriculture remains a cornerstone of the economy, employing a large share of the workforce and accounting for a significant portion of export earnings.
To support these ambitions, the government launched the Programme d’appui à l’amélioration du climat des affaires en Côte d’Ivoire (PACA-CI) in 2023, targeting administrative simplification, digitalisation of public services and greater legal certainty for investors. Reforms have included reducing the time needed to start a business, modernising tax procedures and enhancing public-private dialogue.
Macroeconomic stability has also underpinned investor sentiment. Côte d’Ivoire has maintained relatively strong growth rates compared with regional peers, even amid global shocks linked to the COVID-19 pandemic and rising commodity prices. International rating agencies including Moody’s, Fitch Ratings and S&P Global Ratings have cited steady growth, fiscal reforms and improving debt management in maintaining stable outlooks on the country’s sovereign rating.
As Abidjan prepares its next medium-term development strategy beyond 2025, authorities are seeking to deepen industrial clusters, expand renewable energy capacity and strengthen small and medium-sized enterprises to sustain private investment momentum.
