Security of foreign investments in Côte d’Ivoire

Because of two major socio-political crises, Côte d'Ivoire has had a negative reputation for foreign investors for several years. Several large foreign companies had to close in the early 2000s due to political troubles. While some investors are still convinced that the country remains the economic engine of West Africa, others are reluctant to invest because they are worried about the security of their investments.

To restore the prestige of the country and to attract investors again, the government of Côte d'Ivoire has provided incentives since 2011. These range from the development of an institutional framework for the legal protection of investments, to the deployment of an essential mechanism for security for both people and their property.

At the institutional level, the country set up a commercial court in 2012. Through the Investment Promotion Center, the country adopted a new investment code that is more attractive to investors and has also put in place a system to facilitate business start-up formalities in 2018.

As corruption is also a significant impediment to investment in Côte d'Ivoire, an anti-corruption jurisdiction was created three years ago.

Finally, at the level of the physical security of private investments, in the capital city of Abidjan, 200 cameras have been installed in areas where businesses are concentrated, and a Coordination Center for Operational Decisions has been created.

The purpose of all these actions is to improve the country's security index to restore investor confidence.

As a reminder, Côte d'Ivoire has gained 17 places in the Doing Business ranking in 2019 and is ranked 122nd out of 190 – this is a considerable improvement in a relatively short period.

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