Knowing Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d’Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is the port city of Abidjan. It borders Guinea to the northwest, Liberia to the west, Mali to the northwest, Burkina Faso to the northeast, Ghana to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea (Atlantic Ocean) to the south. Its official language is French, and indigenous languages are also widely used, including Bété, Baoulé, Dioula, Dan, Anyin, and Cebaara Senufo. In total, there are around 78 different languages spoken in Ivory Coast. The country has a religiously diverse population, including numerous followers of Islam, Christianity, and indigenous faiths such as Animism.
The Ivorian economy remains dominated by agriculture. In 2018, the agricultural sector thus represented 28% of GDP, employed a little less than half of the workforce and supported two-thirds of the population.
It also represents 60% of the country’s export earnings in 2022 Cocoa alone constitutes 10% of Ivorian GDP, 40% of export earnings and supports 5 to 6 million people in the country.
Cocoa
Côte d’Ivoire is still the world’s largest cocoa producer, with 40% of the total, ahead of Ghana. National production reached 1.335 million tons in 2003-2004, the share of exports being 1.060 million tons for the same period1. Côte d’Ivoire is nicknamed the “Republic of cocoa”.
Cashew
Côte d’Ivoire is the world’s leading producer of cashew nuts in 2018. Palm oil Côte d’Ivoire is the 5th world producer of palm oil (2nd African producer) in 2018.
Natural Rubber
Côte d’Ivoire is the world’s 7th largest producer of natural rubber (1st African producer) in 2018.
Coffee
After having been the world’s third largest coffee producer for almost thirty years, Ivorian production fell from 250,000 tonnes in 1990 to 145,000 tonnes in 1994, then rose again to 250,866 tonnes in 2003-2004. In 2016, it was only the fourteenth largest coffee producer in the world, despite a coffee harvest up around 10% between 2011 and 2016, and in 2016 it placed behind the coffee growers of Central America, although they are much less populated. , such as Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
Cotton
Côte d’Ivoire is among the fourth largest producer of African cotton in 2018. The cotton sector, as in many African producing countries, has lined up excellent harvests, even if on the world market, the price of the pound of fiber was around $0.70 in 2015, relatively low compared to the peak of $2 per pound it had reached in 2011. The country was in third place on the list of the top seven African cotton producers in the mid-2010s. The country also produces rubber and also has the distinction of being the world’s leading producer of kola nuts with a total production of 65,216 tonnes.
Wood
The main natural resource of Côte d’Ivoire is wood, moreover the country exports more than Brazil. The rate of deforestation, which may be the highest in the world, is likely to pose major problems in the short term, both ecologically and in terms of the loss of essential raw materials and in terms of loss of export income. In 2008, only about 10% of the land was arable, but this figure has been constantly increasing since independence until the early 2000s. It has even increased in an almost linear fashion since the early 1970s when it was only 5%182 until 2003 and has stagnated since then.
Other Resources
In addition to cocoa and coffee, sugar cane, pineapple, banana, cashew nut and palm oil play an important role in exports to Côte d’Ivoire, despite the questioning of quotas by the World Trade Organization. They are mainly exported to
Europe as are fruit production (mango, papaya, avocado and citrus fruits). The cashew apple (cashew), mainly located in the north of the country, has been spreading for a few years to the center and the center-west of the country. In 2006, cashew nut production was 235,000 tonnes and exports 210,000 tonnes1.
Food crops remain an important economic supplement for the country, which produces maize (608,032 tons out of 278,679 hectares), rice (673,006 tons out of 340,856 hectares), yams (4,970,949 tons on 563,432 hectares),
cassava (2,047,064 tonnes over 269,429 hectares), plantain (1,519,716 tonnes over 433,513 hectares). The productions of lemon, bergamot and bigarade are also noted, but in smaller quantities.
The development of livestock breeding remains an objective for the government, but imports are still necessary to satisfy national consumption of animal products. Despite the closure of hunting, decided in 1974 to allow the reconstitution of wildlife potential, game still occupies a significant part of this consumption. To make up for the lack of fishery products, the State encourages the creation of aquaculture pools, but must import fish, the quantity of which amounted to 204,757 tonnes in 2000.
Industry
In addition to gold and diamonds, iron, nickel, manganese, bauxite and copper are also found in Côte d’Ivoire. Gold Côte d’Ivoire’s gold production increased from 7 tons in 2009 to 24.5 t in 2018, then 32.5 tons in 2019.
About 30% of current production comes from the Tongon mine alone, owned by the Canadian gold group Barrick Gold. There are a total of nine mines:
- Tongon (Barrick Gold, Canada)
- Agbaou in the Center and Ity in the West – the oldest gold mine in the country) (Endeavor Mining, Canada)
- Sissengué in the North (Africa Gold, Australia)
- Yaouré in the Center West (Perseus Mining, Australia).
At the same time, more than 22 tons were allegedly extracted illicitly in 2019.
Diamonds
There are two major diamondiferous areas in Côte d’Ivoire, Séguéla and Tortiya