Background: Cote d’ Ivoire is a rapidly growing economy in West Africa with GDP of $32 billion and a population of 22.7 million people. The economy is the world’s leading producer of cocoa as it produces approximately 35-40% of cocoa global supply. Cote d’Ivoire is a member of the West African Monetary Union (WAMU) and the CFA franc zone gives the economy monetary stability. The political landscape is generally stable with a pro-market government that has close links with France. The table below reflects the main areas of trade by product percentage in Cote d’ Ivoire (source: UNCTAD):

Geo-Economic Structure: Cote d’ Ivoire has maintained some strong reforms to improve trade of especially cocoa which it holds the trade advantage due it being the largest producer in the world. The economy is however vulnerable to commodity prices and climatic movements on agricultural output. Côte d’ Ivoire is experiencing high growth levels, with an average of 9% growth in GDP in the last 5 years. The sudden political change in 2010 provided an opportunity to pursue some significant economic reforms and boosted the ease of doing business as reflected in the World Bank report on governance indicators.

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