Openness to Foreign Investment

Cote d’Ivoire actively encourages foreign investment through mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, takeovers, or startups. There are no significant limits on foreign investment, nor are there generally differences in treatment of foreign and national investors, either in terms of the level of foreign ownership or sector of investment. The government of Cote d'Ivoire (GOCI) does not screen investments and has no overall economic and industrial strategy that discriminates against foreign-owned firms. There is an investment code, which was designed to boost private sector investment and increase national production. The code continues to provide for assistance to small and medium-sized firms, but includes incentives for larger investments and for investments outside of Abidjan and other urban industrial areas. There is also a Petroleum Investment Code and a Mining Investment Code, which were revised in the mid 1990’s as a means of further enhancing prospects for foreign investment. These updated provisions include eligibility for exemption from income tax and other taxes, and exemption from the value added tax on equipment, materials and the first consignment of spare parts, except those with equivalents made in Cote d’Ivoire or available in country at equivalent cost.

Cote d’Ivoire has an investment promotion center, called CEPICI, which provides investment information and assistance for entrepreneurs interested in starting a business or foreign enterprises interested in investing in Cote d’Ivoire. CEPICI operates a "one-stop-shop" for investors; an outreach program to match opportunities with potential investors; and a public-private liaison program. CEPICI, in conjunction with other agencies, maintains a file of projects seeking foreign investment. In November 2004, the GOCI appointed a new management to reshape the activities of the investment authority. CEPICI, like many government agencies in Cote d'Ivoire, faced administrative and financial difficulties in 2004. These difficulties are likely to continue until the end of the current political crisis.

The GOCI does not use tax, labor, environment, or health and safety laws to impede or distort investment. Well-entrenched companies historically have formed relationships with GOCI officials, which have frequently influenced the awarding of tenders. However, there are some limitations on foreign investment worth noting. As a means to monitor foreign exchange flows, the external finance and credit office of the Finance Ministry must approve investments from outside the West African Franc (CFAF) zone. Foreigners own significant amounts of land in Cote d’Ivoire.

There are sizeable U.S. investments in offshore gas and oil exploration and production, petroleum product distribution, cocoa and coffee processing and shipping, and banking. There is no main sector where American investors have been formally refused the same treatment as other foreign investors.

The cocoa sector is particularly significant to the nation’s economic well-being. It contributes annually 30 percent of export revenues and 20 percent of government fiscal revenues. Because the cocoa sector is large and important to the Ivoirian economy, the GOCI is concerned that foreign companies not dominate the sector. It has liberalized the market but limited the amount of cocoa foreign companies can purchase and process. The GOCI also established several private and public control agencies to regulate the industry. Recently, dissension among market actors prompted the GOCI to appoint a technical steering and follow up committee tasked with formulating a strategy to accelerate reform of the coffee and cocoa sectors.

Conversion and Transfer Policies

Cote d’Ivoire is a member of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), which uses the CFA Franc (CFAF), a fully convertible currency. The CFAF is fixed to the Euro at a rate of 655.956 CFAF to one Euro.

The WAEMU has unified foreign exchange regulations. WAEMU eliminated all restrictions on transfers within the community. Under the new regulations, a government can designate commercial banks to approve routine foreign exchange transactions. The transfer abroad of the proceeds or the liquidation of foreign direct investments no longer requires prior government approval.

However, when traveling from Côte d’Ivoire to another WAEMU country, Ivoirians and expatriate residents must declare the amount of currency being carried out of the country. When traveling from Côte d’Ivoire to a destination other than another WAEMU country, business operators are prohibited from carrying an amount of currency greater than the equivalent of CFAF 2,750 million (approximately US $5,500). Carrying currency greater than those thresholds is only permissible with approval from the Department of External Finance of the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Any surplus must be in travelers' or bank checks.

The GOCI must grant prior permission for investments coming into the WAMEU zone from outside and routinely does so. Once an investment is established and documented, the GOCI regularly approves remittances of dividends and/or repatriation of capital. The same holds true for requests for other sorts of transactions -– e.g., imports, licenses, and royalty fees. Permission for conversions or transfers is almost invariably granted at each level. Temporary liquidity shortfalls in the banking system sometimes occur. The contraction of the economy caused by the ongoing political crisis has additionally diminished the liquidity of smaller independent financial institutions,. However large firms and multi-nationals have reported adequate liquidity for transactions. Companies continue to complain that the GOCI is slow in approving currency conversions for its own benefit or that of an Ivoirian company.

Expropriation and Compensation

Cote d’Ivoire’s public expropriation law includes compensation provisions similar to those in the U.S. Historically, expropriation has not been an issue in Cote d’Ivoire and the Embassy is not aware of any cases of government expropriation of private property.

Private expropriation as a means to force settlement of contractual or investment disputes has been a problem, particularly for American investors in recent years. Corruption has resulted in slow enforcement of private property rights particularly when the expropriated entity is foreign held and the expropriator is Ivorian or a long-term French or Lebanese resident.

Dispute Settlement

Property rights exist in law but enforcement remains slow and the system is rife with corruption. The last year has seen several investment disputes involving U.S. companies (and others) with large investments in Cote d’Ivoire. In each case, property rights and the sanctity of contracts were not upheld. The judicial system is dysfunctional and in need of reform. Enforcement of contract rights is often time consuming and expensive as court cases move slowly. Judges sometimes fail to base their decisions on the legal or contractual merits of the case. In addition, cases are often endlessly postponed and appealed again and again, moving from court to court, in some cases for decades. It is a widely held view that magistrates are sometimes subject to political or financial influence. Some investors stipulate in contracts that disputes must be settled in the international commercial arbitration court in Paris or the Hague.

Given that the average time from filing to resolution of a contract dispute is eight years, in 1999 the GOCI established an arbitration tribunal for businesses to settle commercial disputes without going to court. The mission of the arbitration court was to provide alternative modes of conflict resolution including arbitration, conciliation, mediation and expertise.

In the past six years, the Arbitration Board has heard only 40 cases. In July 2004, the governing body was strengthened with the added participation of local Chambers of Commerce. The rules governing enforcement of arbitral awards were modified to allow for a quicker enforcement of awards. The business community has welcomed the 2004 revisions. In addition to its local arbitration board, Cote d’Ivoire is a member of the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes. Besides that, there is the Abidjan-based Joint Court of Justice and Arbitration.

There is political consensus on the need to reform the judicial system. However, reform measures have languished due to the ongoing political instability. Under the current reform plans, the GOCI will dismantle the Supreme Court, and divide its authority among several independent institutions. The current Judicial Chamber of the Supreme Court will become the High Appeals Court (Cour de Cassation). It will handle civil, penal, social, and labor cases when it deems that a lower court did not adequately apply the law. The current Administrative Chamber of the Supreme Court will become the Council of State (Conseil d’Etat), which will hear cases involving the State or public authorities or cases against the GOCI. The current Account Chamber of the Supreme Court will become a separate and independent Account Court (Cour de Comptes), examining the accounts of the State and of local government and hearing financial cases.

Further reform plans call for decided more cases by three judge panels, instead of by a single judge; publish court decisions more quickly; enhancing computerization in the court system; training judges in commercial law; and increasing the number of appeals courts to reduce the backlog of commercial cases. There has been little progress on these proposals.

Cote d’Ivoire has both commercial and bankruptcy laws that address bankruptcy and liquidation of business liabilities. The Uniform Acts for the Organization and Harmonization of Business Law (OHADA) is a collection of uniform laws on bankruptcy, debt collections, and the rules governing business transactions. The OHADA permits three different tiers of liability settlement: an ordered suspension of payment to permit a negotiated settlement, an ordered suspension of payment to permit restructuring of the company, and the complete liquidation of assets. Creditors’ rights, irrespective of nationality, are protected equally by the Act. Monetary judgments devolving from a bankruptcy are usually paid out in local currency.

Performance Requirements and Incentives

Cote d’Ivoire does not maintain any regulations that are inconsistent with WTO Trade-Related Investment Measures (TRIMS).

There are no general performance requirements applied to investments, nor does the GOCI or the investment authority generally place conditions on location, local content, equity ownership, import substitution, export requirements, host country employment, technology transfer, or local financing. Cellular telephone operating companies must meet technology and performance requirements to maintain their licenses. The Investment Code, the Petroleum Code, and the Mining Code define the incentives available to new investors in Cote d’Ivoire.

There are no requirements that foreign investors must purchase from local sources or use local services, nor are there export targets or local content rules. It is sometimes difficult to obtain a copy of the tariff schedule.

Right to Private Ownership and Establishment

Foreign investors generally have access to all forms of remunerative activity on terms equal to the terms enjoyed by Ivoirians. The GOCI encourages foreign investment in the privatization of parastatal firms, though privatization schemes have reserved some shares for employees of the parastatal in question and for sale on the Abidjan stock exchange.

Under its IMF Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility, the GOCI committed to privatizing 30 parastatal enterprises by the end of 2003. The privatization list features the SIR oil refinery that serves all of Cote d’Ivoire. In addition, the GOCI is to sell the majority of its shares in a major local bank, a cotton company, and sugar company, and its remaining shares in the telecommunications company. Plans to complete privatization are still on hold as governmental actors focus on the political crisis.

In January 2005, the Council of Ministers enacted measures to liberalize the telecommunication sector, which had been postponed since February 2004. Based on the Ministerial decree issued in January 2005, the National Assembly is currently preparing new legislation to amend the 1995 telecommunication code. The new rules end France Telecom’s fixed-line monopoly through its subsidiary, Cote d’Ivoire Telecom. Additional changes are the creation of a new regulatory agency to manage the fully competitive market.

Banks and insurance companies are subject to licensing requirements, but there are no restrictions aimed at limiting foreign ownership or the establishment of subsidiaries of foreign companies in this sector. There are no restrictions on foreign investment in computer services, or education and training services. However, there are restrictions on foreign investment in the health sector, law and accounting firms, and travel agencies. Investments in these sectors are subject to prior approval, require association with an Ivoirian partner(s), and appropriate licenses. Foreign companies operate successfully in all these service sectors.

Protection of Property Rights

The Ivoirian Civil Code protects the acquisition and disposition of intellectual property rights. Legal protection for intellectual property may fall short of TRIPS standards. Cote d'Ivoire is a party to the Paris Convention, its 1958 revision, and the 1977 Bangui Agreement covering 16 Francophone African countries in the African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI). Effective February 2002, changes were made to the Bangui Accords in an effort to bring them into conformity with TRIPS. Under OAPI, rights registered in one member country are valid for other member states. Patents are valid for ten years, with the possibility of two five-year extensions. Trademarks are valid for ten years and are renewable indefinitely. Copyrights are valid for 50 years.

In 2001, Ivoirian experts drafted a new law in an effort to bring Cote d’Ivoire into conformity with TRIPS. The new law adds specific protection for computer programs, databases, and authors’ rights with regard to rented films and videos. The National Assembly has not yet approved this legislation.

The government’s Office of Industrial Property is charged with ensuring the protection of patents, trademarks, industrial designs, and commercial names. The office faces an array of challenges, including resource allocation, political will, and the distraction of the ongoing political crisis. As a result, enforcement of IPR is largely ineffective. Foreign companies, especially from East and South Asia, flood the Ivoirian market with all types of counterfeit goods. GOCI efforts to combat piracy are modest. The Ivoirian Office of Author’s Rights (BURIDA), put into effect a new sticker system in January 2004 to protect phonograph, video, literary and artistic property rights in music and computer programs. BURIDA’s operations remain hampered by a long-running dispute over policy and who should direct the agency, but the agency does help to promote IPR enforcement with lawyers and magistrates.

The legal system generally protects and facilitates the use of real property through long-term leases. Private individuals or entities usually cannot obtain freehold tenure. The traditional property rights of villages and ethnic groups complicate real property rights. Differences between traditional property rights of a village or ethnic group and the more modern system of long-term leaseholds sometimes complicate the enforcement of property rights in rural areas. As a consequence, banks have experienced difficulties realizing their security interests on real estate loans. In general, the mortgage market is not well developed. As part of the legislative reforms mandated by the Linas-Marcoussis Peace agreement, in early 2004 the National Assembly adopted amendments on rural-land ownership. This new law provides free hold ownership for rural lands, which are traditionally held as a tenancy in common by villages. Rights are only protected, however, if the owner can document proof of ownership, through an assignment deed or purchase contract.

Investors should be aware that local individuals or local companies using what appear to be spurious court decisions have challenged the ownership of some foreign companies in recent years. In addition, on occasion the GOCI has blocked the bank accounts of U.S. and other foreign companies because of such ownership disputes or because of tax disputes.

Transparency of Regulatory System

The GOCI has taken some steps toward encouraging a more transparent and competitive economic environment. In addition, the IMF, World Bank, European Union, and other large donors continue to push the GOCI to take further steps by placing conditions on future loans and grants. There is a centralized office of public bids in the Finance Ministry to help ensure compliance with international bidding practices. This updated bidding system was designed to enhance competition by providing a neutral body to make bidding decisions. The system is supposed to make decisions in a transparent and objective fashion based on clear criteria.

External financial advisors now work with the GOCI’s privatization committee on the sale of parastatal enterprises. There is also an Inspector General’s office and regulatory bodies for the liberalized electricity and telecommunications sectors. Nevertheless, customs and other officials can sometimes be purposefully obstructionist.

Under pressure from the Bretton Woods institutions, the GOCI dissolved the cocoa and coffee marketing board and replaced it with a more market-oriented system regulated by several private and public institutions with producer, industry, and government representation. The results of the sector’s liberalization are decidedly mixed. The new agencies tasked with the control and regulation of the sector, which have burgeoned due to cronyism, have not worked efficiently or transparently and have become the subject of controversy regarding their fiduciary mismanagement. Some companies accuse them of occasionally being obstructionist. In the Fall of 2004, the President bowed to pressure from the international community and the planters, and created a steering committee to review the coffee and cocoa sectors and recommend reforms. The Committee is scheduled to finish its work during the Summer of 2005.

The Finance Ministry has been known to change tax regimes overnight via ministerial decree, rather than working through the Council of Ministers and the National Assembly. The GOCI sometimes levies large tax bills that, according to some companies, have little basis in law or standard accounting practices. It then negotiates a lower bill with the company. At the end of November 2004, revenue constraints were such that the Finance Ministry publicly offered a discount off of the total 2004 tax levied on any company that was willing to pay its estimated 2004 taxes in advance. The coffee and cocoa sectors, which account for 20 percent of government revenues through the export taxes that they pay, were particular targets of this discount program.

Efficient Capital Markets and Portfolio Investment

Due to the financial risk associated with long-term loans in the current political crisis, banks have begun to limit funding to the private sector, particularly for small and medium size enterprises. Banks continue to offer short-term loans.

Cote d’Ivoire’s financial system remains functional. Banks generally make lending and investment decisions on business criteria. The banking and financial system, however, offers only certain kinds of instruments and financial markets are thin. GOCI policies generally encourage the free flow of capital. Beginning December 2004, the GOCI introduced controls to stem the outflow of currency from Cote d'Ivoire. Until the political crisis ends, these controls are likely to remain in place.

Aside from restrictions previously listed, there are no private sector or government efforts to restrict foreign investment, participation, or control of local industry. Credit for business expansion is difficult to obtain. For the same reason, housing mortgages are less common than in industrialized countries and are more expensive. The GOCI relinquished its interest in smaller banks and retains only a small minority share in several large banks.

At the end of 2003, total assets of the 22 banks and financial institutions were CFAF 1.9 trillion (about USD 3.7 billion), a decrease of 6.7 percent from 2002’s figures, total assets for 2004 are expected to show a decline as well, but the final figures were not available at time of publication.

There is a regional stock exchange (BRVM) based in Abidjan. Although dominated by Ivoirian and French companies, the BVRM is the stock exchange for the entire West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). With the inception of the regional exchange, WAEMU members established the Regional Council for Savings and Investment, a regional securities regulatory body.

Ivoirian accounting systems are well developed and approach international norms. A WAEMU-wide accounting system, under which all member countries follow the same accounting rules is firmly in place.

The CFAF exchange rate is pegged to the Euro at 655.956 CFAF to one Euro. The dollar/Euro exchange rate fluctuates freely; so as a consequence, does the CFAF/USD rate.

Political Violence

In November 2004, when the French peacekeeping troops destroyed the Ivoirian air force in retaliation for an Ivoirian raid on a French military base after the government had resumed hostilities against the former rebels, violence broke out in Abidjan and elsewhere. Hate messages broadcast on state radio and television by the leaders of the ruling party, the Ivoirian Popular Front (FPI) and the leaders of the “Young Patriots” and Militias close to the FPI, whipped up anti-French sentiment among the population. For several days, thousands of irate Ivoirians took to the streets, attacking expatriate homes, businesses and schools in Abidjan and in several towns up country. As a result, 78 enterprises were totally destroyed and eleven partially destroyed. The violence and its aftermath cost small and medium enterprises more than US $40 million, and caused an immediate contraction of the economy. Job losses directly associated with the violence topped 30,000, and more than 9,000 foreign nationals fled the country. In late February 2005, pro-FPI militias launched an attack against a position held by former rebels in western Cote d'Ivoire. The attack was stopped by UN peacekeepers after the former rebels killed some of the militias and then withdrew. As of March 2005, while there is no fighting, political tensions remain high.

Corruption

Cote d’Ivoire signed the UN Anti-corruption Convention on December 10, 2003, but has not yet ratified it. There are however, domestic laws and regulations and penalties to combat corruption. Penalties can range from terms of imprisonment to the payment of civil fines. State employees can be convicted of either passive or active corruption or bribery in the performance of their duties. The law also punishes civil servants or state employees who receive directly or indirectly any interest (illegal gain or benefit) from private or parastatal companies, or related to contracts, markets or financial payments under their purview. Managers of companies, and state controlled organizations, who are complicit in the corrupting act, are treated as accomplices under the statute. It is also a criminal offense to give or accept a bribe. Despite this body of laws designed to repress corruption, the laws and regulations are not effectively enforced.

Racketeering by security and defense forces, in contrast, is often denounced in the media and constantly receives wide attention from the authorities and the population. In 2003 and 2004, security forces and police officials launched several initiatives to combat police racketeering and corruption. For example, in May 2003, Abidjan police introduced a special 280-person patrol called The Regulation of Traffic Unit (URC) designed to oversee traffic and vehicle searches and combat police "disorder." In August, the URC launched a toll free hotline where citizens could call to report police racketeering and abuse. For a time this reduced the amount of low grade harassment of truckers and taxi drivers. However, ongoing unrest in the country has prompted the return of police, military and gendarme checkpoints on the roads, and some unofficial checkpoints, and corruption has increased again.

There are several governmental entities in charge of fighting corruption, e.g., the General Secretariat in charge of good governance and the Board of State General Inspectors. The Inspector General’s Office of the Finance Ministry is in charge of conducting audits. Most of the well-publicized trials for embezzlement in Cote d’Ivoire have been prompted by investigations conducted by this structure. Neither Transparency International, nor any regional or local nongovernmental “watchdog” organization operates in Cote d’Ivoire.

Many U.S. companies view corruption as an obstacle to investment in Cote d’Ivoire. Corruption has the greatest impact on judicial proceedings, contract awards, customs, and tax issues. It is common for judges open to financial influence to distort the merits of a case. Corruption and the recent political crisis have affected the Ivoirian government’s ability to attract and maintain foreign investment. Some U.S. investors have raised specific concerns about the rule of law and the government’s ability to provide equal protection under the law. Lack of progress in arresting growing corruption and an inability to enforce the rule of law was one reason cited for the U.S. withdrawal of benefits for Cote d’Ivoire under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) at the end of 2004.

Bilateral Investment Agreements

There are no bilateral investment or taxation treaties between Cote d’Ivoire and the U.S.

OPIC and Other Investment Insurance Programs

Since 2002, OPIC has not insured any U.S. investments in Cote d'Ivoire. OPIC will most likely not be active in Cote d'Ivoire until the political situation improves. The Modern Africa Growth Fund owns a 40 percent share of one of Cote d’Ivoire’s two cellular telephone operators. The African Project Development Facility (APDF) and the African Investment Program of the World Bank's International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) may also be sources of assistance for investors. However, these organizations, like OPIC, may wait until the political situation improves before entering Cote d'Ivoire. Since 1999, OPIC has not insured any new investments in Cote d’Ivoire.

EXIM Bank financing is available for short-, medium-, and long-term private sector transactions. EXIM’s Direct Loan Program offers foreign buyers medium and long-term loans for up to 85 percent of the contract price at fixed interest rates for the purchase of U.S. capital equipment. EXIM is still open in Côte d'Ivoire for the private sector.

Labor

The Constitution and the Labor Code grant all citizens, except members of the police and military, the right to form or join unions, and workers exercise these rights. Registration of a new union takes three months. Despite these protections, only a small percentage of the workforce is actually organized, and most laborers work in the informal sector (i.e. small farms, small roadside stands, and urban workshops). Anti-union discrimination is prohibited. There have not been reports of anti-union discrimination, and as a consequence there have been no known prosecutions or convictions under this law. Unions are free to join international bodies. The Union Generale des Travailleurs de Cote d'Ivoire (UGTCI), the General Worker's Union of Cote d'Iovire, is affiliated with the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions.

The Constitution additionally provides for collective bargaining, and the Labor Code grants all citizens, except members of the police and military services, the right to bargain collectively. Collective bargaining agreements were in effect in many major business enterprises and sectors of the civil service. In most cases in which wages were not established in direct negotiations between unions and employers, the Ministry of Employment and Civil Service established salaries by job categories. The Constitution and statutes provide for the right to strike, and the GOCI generally protects this right. However, the Labor Code requires a protracted series of negotiations and a six-day notification period before a strike may take place, making legal strikes difficult to organize.

On February 19, 2004, the Minister of Employment and Labor and the Minister of Economy and Finance signed a decree aimed at promoting national employment. This decree favors the employment of Ivoirians in private enterprises. The decree states that any position to be filled must be advertised for two months. If after two months no qualified Ivoirian is found, the employer is allowed to recruit a foreigner, provided that he informs the Administration of his plan for recruiting in the next two years an Ivoirian to fill the position. The foreign employee must be given a labor contract and must have a visa that costs the equivalent of a month’s salary each year. Representatives of the West African Economic and Monetary Union harshly criticized the decree and claimed that it violated Article 91 of the West African Economic and Monetary Union Treaty that permits the free movement of persons for employment within the union.

Foreign-Trade Zones/Free Ports

There are no general free trade or foreign trade zones. However, in August 2004, the GOCI created a free trade zone for New Information Technology and for Biotechnology. Bonded warehouses do exist, and bonded zones within factories are allowed. High port costs and maritime freight rates have inhibited the development of in-bond manufacturing or processing, and there are consequently no general foreign trade zones.

Foreign Direct Investment Statistics

Foreign Direct Investment inflow by Sector, 2003 (USD millions)
Sectors /Investment/ Percentage
Transport/ 63.03/ 43.24
Food/ 48.91/ 33.54
Distribution/ 7.79/ 5.34
Cosmetics/ 6.78 /4.65
Services/ 5.06/ 3.48
Health/ 2.68/ 1.84
Pharmaceutical Industry/2.55 /1.75
Wood Industry/ 2.31/ 1.58
Construction Equipment/ 2.29/ 1.57
Computer/1.20/ 0.82
Chemical/1.31/ 0.90
Tourism /0.52/ 0.36
Music industry /0.33/ 0.23
Mechanic Industry/0.31/ 0.22
Miscellaneous/ 0.29/0.20
Textiles/0.27 / 0.19
Training/0.13/ 0.09
Telecom/0 /0
/145.85/ 100
Source: Ivoirian Investment Promotion Authority (CEPICI). Table does not represent all investment. Average exchange rate CFAF 500 per one USD.

Foreign Direct Investment inflow by Country of Origin, 2003 (USD millions)
Countries/ Investment/Percentage
Switzerland/ 9.47/ 55.76
France/ 6.19/ 36.47
Lebanon/ 0.66/ 3.94
Great Britain/ 0.24/ 1.43
Senegal/0.21/ 1.27
China/ 0.10/ 0.59
Mali/ 0.05/ 0.35
Angola/ 0.01/ 0.06
Spain/ 0.01/ 0.06
Canada/ 0.004/ 0.03
Italy/ 0.004/ 0.02
Morocco/ 0.002/ 0.01
USA/ 0.002/ 0.01
Japan/ 0.0001/ 0.00
Nigeria /0.0001/ 0.00
/16.98/ 100
Source: CEPICI. Table does not represent all the flow investments by origin. Average exchange rate CFAF 500 per one USD.

Foreign Direct Investment inflow by Sector, 2004 (USD millions)
Sectors Investment/Percentage
Food Industry/35.68 /41.47
Telecom /27.05/ 31.44
Services/9.04/ 10.51
Transport/7.09/ 8.25
Textile /2.29/ 2.66
Distribution/2.12/ 2.47

Web Resources

Centre de Promotion des Investissements de Côte d’Ivoire, (CEPICI)