Expertise France in Côte d’Ivoire

Since the recovery from the post-election crisis in 2010-2011, Côte d'Ivoire has had one of the highest economic growth rates in Sub-Saharan Africa (8% on average over the last decade). In 2021, this growth rate remained at 7%, driven by the predominant place of this country of 27 million inhabitants in agricultural production (the world’s largest producer of cocoa and cashew nuts), mining production and services.

Its National Development Plan (NDP, 2021-2025) aims to consolidate the gains of the last ten years and accelerate the structural transformation of its economy and access for Ivorians to essential services. The objective is for it to become an upper-middle-income country by 2030.

Building on its integration into AFD on 1 January 2022, Expertise France is a key partner in helping the Ivorian authorities achieve the objectives of the NDP.

A longstanding and strategic presence

Expertise France has been working with its Ivorian partners since 2004. It implements projects that mainly aim to build the capacities of public administrations and local authorities in its four priority sectors of operation: governance, security, sustainable development and human development.

The agency has a permanent representation in Abidjan and deploys over 70 officers in the field in the sectors of security and the fight against human trafficking, energy and climate, governance and public finances, health, education, and cultural and creative industries.

A close partnership with Ivorian institutions

The agency operates with financing from multilateral donors, such as the European Union and Unitaid, and bilateral donors, such as the French Ministry of the Economy and Finance and Agence Française de Développement (AFD) of which it became a subsidiary in 2022.

It develops a partnership-based approach with Ivorian institutions. This ongoing dialogue makes it possible to build projects tailored to public policies and local situations. Expertise France works with a number of ministries and institutions, including the Inspectorate General, the Treasury and the Directorate of Taxes, the National Assembly, and the Ministries of Defence and Security, Higher Education, Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development, Youth Employment, and Health, Public Hygiene and Universal Health Coverage.

Our projects in Côte d'Ivoire by field of operation

Strengthening good governance and modernising the State

Expertise France is implementing several programmes, ranging from technical assistance to building the skills and capacities of public finance officials. For example, the PACC project financed by the European Union with €1.8 million and implemented by Expertise France, aims to assist the Ivorian Government with its process to increase the effectiveness of key budgetary control officials. The objective is to improve transparency and accountability towards citizens. The project is based on three areas: internal control, external control and the fight against corruption.

Expertise France is also working to improve domestic resources through the digital economy and data science with the DATAFID project (financed by the Directorate General of the Treasury – €2.5 million). The objective is to develop a statistical methodology, harmonised in the region, to measure the digital economy. This will allow decision-makers to identify relevant trends.

Furthermore, Expertise France acts as an operator responsible for managing the implementation of the activities of the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations of Côte d’Ivoire (financed by AFD – €3 million). The objective is to make it a leading actor in financing public investment policies and strategies.

Expertise France also mobilises, as required, a wide array of experts to carry out missions for public administrations:

• The PARFID project (financed by the Directorate General of the Treasury: €5 million) addresses the need to assist a number of countries, including Côte d'Ivoire, with the modernisation of their tax and customs training systems. It thereby contributes to improving the mobilisation of their domestic public resources

• Under the FORCE project (financed by AFD: €4.5 million), Expertise France is facilitating the preparation and implementation of reforms in the public finance management system in the WAEMU zone, which includes Côte d’Ivoire as a member.

Expertise France is also supporting the Ivorian authorities’ efforts to improve the transparency of governance. The PAGOF2 project, financed by AFD with €6 million and implemented by Expertise France, aims to comply with the principles of the Open Government Partnership: transparency of public action, data access, integrity of public action and public officials, use of new technologies for openness and accountability.

In addition to the action to modernise public finances, Expertise France is assisting the Ivorian Government with the overhaul of its justice system and the promotion of human rights.

The agency was involved in the transfer of the administrative, technical and training services of the National Institute of Legal Training (INFJ) to new offices in Abidjan and Yamoussoukro. The objective was to build the skills of officials from the institute in terms of administrative governance and the capacities of other staff in terms of getting to grips with new equipment and work processes.

In the field of human rights, Expertise France is implementing the TEH project (fight against human trafficking in Gulf of Guinea countries) which is co-financed by the European Union and French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs with €18 million. This project aims to assist the authorities and civil society in six Gulf of Guinea countries (Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria and Togo) in the fight against human trafficking. It proposes an inclusive approach, combining components on prevention, suppression, victim support and coordination with the stakeholders.

Supporting a sustainable and inclusive economy

A dynamic private sector is a powerful engine for job creation and a pillar of sustainable and inclusive economic growth and poverty reduction.

Expertise France is implementing the MEET AFRICA 2 project co-financed with €8.5 million by the European Union and Agence Française de Développement. It aims to promote entrepreneurship and job creation in Africa by mobilising the talent and resources of the diaspora living in Europe or newly resettled in Africa.

Expertise France is also contributing to the development of human capital and promotion of decent jobs in high-potential economic sectors in Côte d’Ivoire with the VET TOOLBOX2 project (financed by the EU and German cooperation – €800 k) which aims to:

1) Promote public-private dialogue on skills for jobs and vocational training
2) Support vocational training operators to develop their skills and better adapt training provision to the needs of companies
3) Promote exchanges of good practices between vocational training operators.

In Côte d’Ivoire, Expertise France is at the forefront of efforts to help the authorities in the country transform the economy and create productive jobs. The agency focuses on providing technical assistance to SMEs and promoting entrepreneurship by mobilising the talent of the diaspora via several programmes and projects, including the multi-country project for the digitalisation of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (EU financing, €1.7 million). Under this project, Expertise France is providing technical assistance to SMEs in Côte d’Ivoire to support the continuity then resumption and “digitalisation” of their activities after the Covid-19 pandemic. The objective is to enable them to cope better with current and future shocks.

Contributing to peace and fighting against terrorism and its financing in Côte d'Ivoire

A coastal country of the Gulf of Guinea, in recent years Côte d’Ivoire has been faced with a security threat from the expansion of terrorism affecting the Sahel in the north and maritime piracy in the south. This threat hinders economic development, especially as the port of Abidjan, the third largest port in Sub-Saharan Africa, handles 75% of the country’s trade and accounts for over 76% of its customs revenues.

Maritime security and safety are therefore strategic issues for the Ivorian authorities.

Expertise France is addressing this situation by implementing the DEFEND CI project financed by the European Union with €11 million. It aims to build the capacities of Côte d’Ivoire’s defence and security forces by supporting their mobility, improving the protection and living conditions of the armed forces, and strengthening ties with citizens in the north of the country.    

Expertise France is also assisting the Ivorian State with the fight against terrorism by supporting the project to build the International Academy for the Fight against Terrorism (AILCT), through the management of the European contribution to this academy.

Expertise France is also involved at the regional level through several projects including Côte d’Ivoire:

• The projects OCWAR-M (Organised Crime: West African Response to Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism) and OCWAR-C (Organised Crime: West African Response to Cybersecurity and Fight against Cybercrime) to strengthen the means to fight of ECOWAS countries which include Côte d’Ivoire as a member

• The SEACOP project (EU financing, €5 million) aims to support the fight against illicit maritime traffic and criminal networks

• The WeCAPS project (EU financing, €8.5 million) is contributing to improving port security in Western and Central Africa by strengthening the protection of ports against security and safety risks  

• The GoGIN project (EU financing, €9.2 million) aims to support the creation of a network between maritime centres in the Gulf of Guinea region by developing the YARIS platform.

Facilitating access to healthcare

Health is both a prerequisite and tool for human and economic development. It is a major area of Expertise France’s action in Côte d’Ivoire.

In this respect, the agency is the operator for the implementation of L’Initiative, a French facility complementary to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. It is financed by part of the French contributions to this multilateral fund. L’Initiative provides technical assistance and catalytic financial support to the recipient countries of the Global Fund to improve the effectiveness of its grants and increase the health impact of the programmes financed. It thereby contributes to ensuring the effectiveness of the response to pandemics and of systems for health. It implements its action using two methods: an “expertise channel” (short-term ad hoc needs) and a “project channel” (long-term projects complementary to Global Fund grants).

Since the creation of L’Initiative in 2011, Côte d’Ivoire has benefited from 56 technical assistance missions amounting to some €4.6 million for the preparation of funding requests, the implementation of Global Fund grants by the Ivorian State, and the organisational and technical strengthening of civil society organisations.

Six longer-term projects are currently ongoing and target operational research, vulnerable people (drug users, sex workers, people living with HIV, men who have sex with men, and transgender persons) and the reduction of risks.

Furthermore, Expertise France is contributing to the fight against cervical cancer under the SUCCESS project (Scale Up Cervical Cancer Elimination with Secondary Prevention Strategy) (Unitaid financing, €22.6 million). This project aims to strengthen secondary prevention, i.e., prevent the development of cancer in women with a human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and precancerous lesions by detecting HPV and treating precancerous lesions.

Fight against climate change

Côte d’Ivoire has pledged to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 28% by 2030 and increase the share of renewable energies in the energy mix, with a target of 16% by 2030.

The ECLER IVOIRE project, with a total budget of €11.6 million and managed by Expertise France, is being implemented in this context. It aims to improve access to electricity for rural people in Côte d'Ivoire and reduce energy consumption in public buildings. This project is part of the programme to support the energy sector in Côte d’Ivoire (ENERGOS II), financed by the European Union.

It is based on two lines of action:

• Decentralised rural electrification through renewable energies, which involves the construction of stand-alone mini-grids powered by hybrid solar power plants (photovoltaic power plants with storage, coupled with generators)
• Energy efficiency in public buildings, which aims to achieve a sustainable reduction in energy consumption in public buildings in Côte d’Ivoire. More specifically, energy rehabilitation works are being carried out on a tower in the administrative centre of the Plateau in Abidjan (SOGEFIHA Building). The objective is to make this building a model for energy efficiency and energy management.

In addition, Expertise France is implementing the project to maximise the socioeconomic impacts of rural electrification in Côte d’Ivoire (MAX). Financed by AFD with €4 million, it aims to promote access to energy services and thereby offer new economic opportunities to rural communities, in particular for the processing of agricultural products.

In 2023, Expertise France will continue its support to Côte d’Ivoire for the monitoring and implementation of its climate commitments with the low-carbon transition project, financed by the European Union with €5.9 million for a period of four years (2023-2026). The agency will work directly with the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (MINEDD) to set up a system to monitor and evaluate its climate commitments, for both the adaptation and mitigation components, by building interministerial and intersectoral coordination.

Other activities of the project will support key sectors for the achievement of the climate objectives (forestry, energy, agriculture and waste). They will also help civil society communicate and disseminate information on climate change in Côte d’Ivoire.

Contact and social networks

Expertise France’s regional coordination in the Gulf of Guinea

E-mail: comci@expertisefrance.ci