Opening ripe cocoa fruits at the PRO-PLANTEURS cooperative, an initiative for sustainable cocoa production in Adzopé, Côte d'Ivoire

Côte d'Ivoire Close partner for climate action and development in West Africa

Côte d'Ivoire (often still referred to as “Ivory Coast”) is one of Africa's fastest-growing economies. It is the world's biggest cocoa producer and one of Africa's major exporters of coffee, cashew nuts, palm oil and rubber. By regional standards, its services sector is rather strong. In November 2023, Germany and Côte d'Ivoire entered into a Climate and Development Partnership.

Employees in the control centre of a chocolate factory in Abidjan — Straight to

The Partnership will focus on climate and energy and also biodiversity and forest conservation.

The 1990s and 2000s were marked by political crises. This was followed by a five-year-long civil war and then, after the 2010 presidential elections, a political crisis, all of which caused major setbacks in the country's development. However, the country has stabilised politically and economically over the last ten years. It has also come relatively well through the COVID-19 pandemic. Côte d'Ivoire now faces the task of continuing the process of political stabilisation and ensuring that growth will be environmentally sound and that it will benefit all segments of the population, especially the poor and socially disadvantaged.

One threat which the country is facing is the unstable situation in Burkina Faso and Mali, its northern neighbours, with the risk of terrorist groups from the Sahel entering its territory.

On the current United Nations Human Development Index (HDI), Côte d'Ivoire is ranked 166th out of the 193 countries assessed.

German development cooperation with Côte d'Ivoire

Federal Labour Minister Hubertus Heil, the Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO), Gilbert Houngbo, and Federal Development Minister Svenja Schulze during the meeting with the Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo in Accra, Ghana (from left)

Mobile solar modules are used to power small electrical devices in areas where there is no access to electricity.

The Ivorian government has adopted ambitious goals for climate action and forest conservation. A new Climate and Development Partnership between Germany and Côte d'Ivoire is intended to assist the country in achieving these goals. The Partnership was signed by Development Minister Schulze and Côte d'Ivoire's Finance Minister Adama Coulibaly in Berlin in November 2023. A close political dialogue is taking place to underpin the Partnership. As part of that dialogue, the two sides regularly review whether agreed reforms have been carried out. The focus of the new Partnership is on forest and biodiversity conservation and on investments in power grids, solar energy and energy efficiency.

In 2023, the BMZ committed a total of 203.14 million euros in new funding for its cooperation with Côte d'Ivoire, of which 126 million euros will be used for projects related to the new Climate and Development Partnership. 44 million euros of the total was earmarked for Technical Cooperation projects, and 159.14 million euros is Financial Cooperation funding, mostly in the form of loans.

The two countries' cooperation focuses on the following core areas:

Climate and energy, just transition
Area of intervention: renewable energy and energy efficiency
Conserving nature and natural resources, protecting life on Earth
Areas of intervention: biodiversity, forests
Sustainable economic development, training and employment
Areas of intervention: technical and vocational education and training, private sector and financial sector development

Germany also supports Côte d'Ivoire in the areas of good governance and peacebuilding and conflict prevention. The purpose of these efforts is to fight corruption more effectively and foster government transparency and accountability. Another purpose of the two country's cooperation measures is to improve living conditions in the northern regions of Côte d'Ivoire near the border with the Sahel countries, as poverty and insecurity are prevalent in these regions.

The Government of Côte d'Ivoire has set itself the goal of raising the share of renewable energy in the power mix to 45 per cent by 2030 and to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It also wants to achieve universal electricity access by 2025. In order to assist with the achievement of these targets, Germany is supporting the country's efforts to increase the use of renewable energy, expand the grid and improve energy efficiency.

Some 60 per cent of Côte d'Ivoire's forests have been cut down over the last three decades. One major factor in this deforestation has been the expansion of agriculture. This is posing an acute threat to protected areas and their biodiversity. One focus of Germany's development cooperation activities is therefore on conserving forests and biodiversity.

Quality control of cocoa beans at the cooperative PRO-PLANTEURS

The BMZ has been assisting the Ivorian government in implementing its national development plan in the fields of employment promotion and vocational training. Specifically, advice is being provided to the government with regard to the introduction of a dual (industry-based and school-based) vocational training system and the improvement of the business environment for small and medium-sized enterprises.