Ivory Coast looks to 'national champion' firms to lead economic development

After years of political and economic turmoil, the last fifteen years have seen Ivory Coast return to stability and strong economic growth.

Now the government is looking to so-called "national champions" to fuel economic development and small and medium enterprises.

Among those champions is oil and gas distributor, Petro Ivoire:

"Being named champion by your country gives you a very strong responsibility, a responsibility to set an example," says Sebastien Kadio Morokro, the head of oil and gas distributor Petro Ivoire.

"In any case, that remains the guiding principle of our company: always being a civic-minded, responsible and sustainable business."

Another recent success story is Kaera. Founded in the late 2000s, it now has 600 employees. The company sells natural cosmetics across West Africa and as far as Paris and Dubai -- more than two dozen countries in total.

"The obstacles we might face are with certain African countries, especially when it comes to regulations and all that, because standards differ greatly from one country to another and each country has its own requirements," says Kaera CEO Fode Yattabare.

"So you have to go and comply with the regulations of each individual country and so on. If AfCFTA could start by introducing a single African standard in terms of regulation, it would make things much easier for us."

As a sign of investor confidence, Ivory Coast last week secured $80 billion in international public financing -- four times more than expected -- for its 2026–2030 National Development Plan. Nearly $150 billion more is expected from the private sector.