The ‘Confederation generale des Entreprises de Cote d’Ivoire’ (CGECI) and the trade union umbrella organizations have agreed to raise the guaranteed minimum wage (SMIG) from January 1, 2023.
This proposal should be validated by the government.
Following approval, the SMIG in Cote d’Ivoire will jump to 75,000 CFA francs from 60,000 CFA francs on January 1, 2023, representing an increase of 25%.
The Ivorian government had decided in November 2014 to raise the Guaranteed Interprofessional Minimum Wage from 36,607 CFA francs to 60,000 CFA francs, almost doubling the SMIG.
The Ivorian head of state, Alassane Ouattara, issued a decree on Independence Day last August raising the salaries of civil servants and state employees, as well as retirees.
A measure aimed at fighting against the high cost of living and the inflationary pressure created by the Russian-Ukrainian crisis.
The Ivorian president had then announced talks between the government and the private sector to revalue the Guaranteed Minimum Interprofessional Wage (SMIG) against the backdrop of a global economic crisis.
“I have therefore asked Prime Minister Patrick Achi to hold discussions with the private sector with a view to raising the Guaranteed Minimum Interprofessional Wage (SMIG) in the months ahead,” Ouattara said in an address to the nation on the occasion of his country’s 62nd independence anniversary.
“I call on the private sector to make efforts to improve the purchasing power of their employees, especially those with the lowest salaries,” Mr. Alassane Ouattara had said.
AP/fss/as/APA