Out-Law News 1 min. read
08 Mar 2016, 2:15 pm
The report said the "large capital projects" are to be completed within the next five years under the National Development Plan (NDP) for 2016-20, "valued at approximately €44.2 billion".
Many of the projects are being financed privately and are expected to "help reduce operating costs and delays for the country's priority industries", OBG said.
"Among the country's planned projects are 94 public-private partnerships, providing myriad opportunities for foreign investors to participate in the country's advancement," OBG said. "As part of the NPD, Cote d'Ivoire is aiming to increase the share of private investment from 65% to 70% of the national total."
In addition, OBG said regional donors such as the African Development Bank (AfDB) and multilateral development institutions "have pledged a combined $6.7bn in financing in the decade to 2019, some of which will go towards NPD-related projects."
The headquarters of the AfDB returned to Cote d'Ivoire in 2014 after being forced to operate from Tunisia since 1964 because of years of civil war. The bank said then that its decision was "a sign of confidence" in Cote d'Ivoire's future.
According to the AfDB, one of Cote d'Ivoire's "biggest challenges.... is to strengthen the role of local authorities in launching projects that have a structuring impact and speed up public access to modern services that will enable more productivity and efficiency".
The AfDB said: "Better mobilisation of internal and external funding of development and social and political stability is needed for Côte d'Ivoire to achieve its goal of becoming an emerging nation by 2020."
Since the AfDB started operations in Cote d'Ivoire in 1971, by the end of 2014 the bank said it had financed more than 70 operations in the country worth some $2.1bn (44-page / 4.38 MB PDF).
Last October, it was announced that work had begun on a Chinese-backed project to expand the port in Cote d'Ivoire's commercial capital of Abidjan. China, which is contributing 85% of the costs of the $1.12bn project, said the aim was to turn the port into a major maritime hub for West Africa.
Towards the end of last year the engineering subsidiary of the Italian state railways group, Italferr, said it would conduct a feasibility study into a new railway linking Cote d'Ivoire and Mali. The proposed 1,000 kilometre railway would run north from Cote d'Ivoire's port of San Pedro to Mali's capital city, Bamako.
Cote d'Ivoire is among several countries in sub-Saharan Africa that are expected to see faster economic growth than any other region by 2040, according to a report published by professional services firm PwC.
