Located in West Africa along the Gulf of Guinea, Ivory Coast’s neighbors include Liberia and Guinea-Conakry in the west, Mali and Burkina Faso in the north and Ghana in the east. To the south, there is about 500 km of Atlantic Ocean coast.

The country has the general appearance of a plateau rising gently from south to north, with land relief concentrated in its western part. It is irrigated by a large number of rivers, of which the four biggest are Bandama, Comoe, Cavally and Sassandra. Ivory Coast has a tropical climate with an average annual temperature of 28 degrees Celsius. There is rainforest in part of the south, and savannah in the central and northern parts.
 
The choice of development

Felix Houphouet-Boigny, the first president of the Republic of Ivory Coast, which has been independent since Aug. 7 1960, chose to focus on economic development in the ideological debates that followed independence in many countries.

Within 15 years, Ivory Coast became the most prosperous country to emerge from the former French West Africa. However, this “Ivorian miracle” stated coming to an end as a result of the drastic drop in world prices of cocoa and coffee, the country’s main exports and on which its economy was based.

Key figures

Area: 322,462 square km
Coastline: 520 km
Population: 22 million
2010 (GDP): $24.5 billion
GDP per capita: $1,200
Currency: CFA franc (1 euro = 656 FCFA francs)

Ten tough years

With the death of the first President Felix Houphouet-Boigny on Dec. 7, 1993, the political and social climate worsened. His successor, Henri Konan Bedie, elected in 1995, was overthrown on Dec. 24, 1999, in a coup led by Gen. Robert Guei.

Ten months later, in October 2000, Laurent Gbagbo was elected to the top job in electoral conditions he himself described as “calamitous.” On Sept. 19, 2002, a military uprising against the regime was triggered in the capital. It failed, but the instigators took refuge in Bouake, in the central northern region, about 350 km from Abidjan.

Despite a cease-fire agreement signed on Oct. 17, the northern half of the country was not controlled by the government. The U.N. and France ― with its Licorne troops ― as well as the African Union and regional organizations ― the Economic Community of West African States and the West African Economic and Monetary Union ― became involved in the pacification of the country and the search for a political solution.

Unprecedented crisis

Presidential elections were finally held under international control in 2010. On Nov. 28, Alassane Ouattara won the second round over Laurent Gbagbo, with 54.10 percent of the vote.

But the outgoing president refused to bow to the verdict of the polls and declared himself the winner. After prolonged fighting between supporters of the legally elected president and the forces of the former president Gbagbo with the use of heavy weapons, reinforced militia and foreign mercenaries, even inside the walls of the presidential compound, Gbagbo was finally arrested on April 11, 2011, and transferred on Nov. 30 to the prison of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, where he will be tried for crimes against humanity.

He left his successor with a country to be rebuilt on all fronts: political, economic, social and moral.

Outlook for recovery

Ivory Coast has keenly resumed its way with democracy, peace, security and stability as a base for development. It is obvious that the return of the African Development Bank in 2014 at its traditional headquarters in Abidjan, the country’s economic capital, will contribute to the strengthening of the nation’s assets.

Therefore, given Korean businessmen’s dynamism and know-how, it will be a good opportunity for them to operate and invest in the market of Ivory Coast, where various projects await them in agro-industry, infrastructure, mining, energy and information and communication technologies.

Economic position

Based on agriculture and agro-allied industries, the economy of the Ivory Coast has resisted the world’s financial crisis. The country is still the world’s largest producer of cocoa and is still among the biggest African producers of agricultural products. The main products are:

Cocoa: 1,400,000 tons a year ― 40 percent of the global market

Coffee: 170,000 tons a year, ranked 3rd in Africa

Rubber: 150,000 tons a year, ranked 1st in Africa

Pineapples: 260,000 tons a year, the top African provider for the European market

Palm oil: 1,400,000 tons a year, Ranked 1st in Africa

Bananas: 300,000 tons a year, the second-largest in Africa

More and more, the country is diversifying its economy. The mining and energy sectors are developing rapidly. Ivory Coast produces natural resources and minerals, including gold, diamonds, manganese, iron ore, nickel, oil and natural gas.

Ivory Coast accounts for 40 percent of the GDP of the West Africa Economic and Monetary Union. The country represents 38.9 percent of exports and 43 percent of manufactured products in the union, and 84.2 percent of the companies quoted on the regional stock market in Abidjan are from the Ivory Coast.

Business environment

Being one of the key countries of West Africa, Ivory Coast has several assets favorable for investments such as:

An abundant and well-trained workforce

Modern and suitable infrastructure, including Abidjan Port (ranked second in sub-Saharan Africa)

Sufficient electricity, water supply and telecommunication systems including Internet

More than 68,000 kilometers of road (among the best in Africa)

Favorable tax and customs measures for foreign investment

Business opportunities

Korean companies are invited to invest in Ivory Coast, where many business opportunities and privileges await them, particularly in the following areas:

Agriculture and agro-business (cocoa, coffee and tropical fruits processing, etc.)

Transportation and logistics (Abidjan urban train system, San Pedro airport fitting, etc.)

Construction and development (highways, more than 20,000 houses, etc.)

Mining and energy (power generation and transmission, oil exploration, gold, manganese, copper, nickel exploitation and natural gas, etc.)

Information technology and biotechnology (VITIB project, etc.)

The Ivorian government is planning several big development projects in Abidjan, Yamoussoukro and San Pedro, where the country’s second sea port is located. These projects consist of constructing modern infrastructures, industrialization of the country, and development of natural resources, to name but a few Korean investments are sought.

Ivory Coast is also a fantastic tourism destination with marvelous sites such as Grand-Bassam, the first capital, with colonial buildings. There are also beautiful beaches in Asouind, Assinie and Monogaga on the sea coast. Tourists can also enjoy national parks full of various animals and sights such as the Basilica Notre Dame de la Paix in Yamousoukro, the biggest in the world.

President Alassane Ouattara

The president of Ivory Coast was born in Dimbokro in the center of the country on Jan. 1, 1942. After primary school in Ivory Coast, and high school in Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso), he obtained a doctorate in economics at the University of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania.

For 10 years he held various positions at the International Monetary Fund and the Central Bank of the States of West Africa, becoming deputy governor in 1983.

He was prime minister from November 1990 until the death of Felix Houphouet-Boigny in December 1993, when he became deputy director of the IMF from May 1994 to July 1999. Elected in November 2010, he has set his priorities as the reconciliation of Ivorians and reviving the economy.