Officials of the Ivorian government, the private sector, and traditional leaders are working on securing land rights for agribusinesses as they met in Grand-Bassam
Between urban pressure and customary conflicts, the challenge is to remove the obstacles hindering investment and industrialization in Côte d’Ivoire.
Land must no longer be the neglected aspect of Ivorian agribusiness.
This is the key message of the workshop that opened in Grand-Bassam, a seaside town located 40 km southeast of Abidjan, at the initiative of the State-Private Sector Consultation Committee (CCESP).
Around the table were representatives of the Ivorian Employers’ Association (CGECI), the Union of Major Industrial Companies (UGECI), and econmic research unit CIRES, as well as guardians of tradition through the National Chamber of Kings and Traditional Chiefs.
The Executive Secretary of the CCESP, Mariam Fadiga Fofana, immediately emphasised the urgency of the land issue facing agribusinesses, noting that agriculture, contributing 25% to the overall GDP, is the lifeblood of the country.
Yet, the agribusiness sector is faltering in the face of administrative complexity and land disputes.
“Secure access to land is a key step for the structural transformation of our economy,” she
insisted, responding to a request from the UGECI.
For the private sector, the situation is clear. Stéphane Aka-Anghui, Executive Director of the CGECI, stressed that land is the “foundation” of any economic model and “without secure land, there is
no factory; without a factory, there is no processing, nor local added value.”
He observed that land primarily serves as collateral for access to financing. Currently, industrialists face a triple challenge: the legal insecurity of land parcels; Urban pressure is encroaching on
agricultural land, and coexistence with local customary rights is difficult.
Faced with these obstacles, the government is strengthening its measures. Mathurin Bombo, representing the Minister of Trade and Industry, announced the establishment of a Task Force dedicated to the issue of industrial land.
This intervention group brings together all stakeholders in the supply chain to streamline procedures and accelerate the availability of serviced land through the Industrial Infrastructure Management and Development Company (SOGEDI).
The objective is clear: to transition from export-oriented agriculture to a processing-oriented agro-industry. But to achieve greater transformation, investors must be reassured about the security of the business environment and the availability of industrial land.
The recommendations resulting from these three days of work in Grand-Bassam should lay the groundwork for a more stable legislative and operational framework, where modern law and respect for local communities can finally find common ground.
AP/fss/as/APA