In a presentation on the country’s economic challenges and prospects, Cote d’Ivoire’s Minister of Economy, Planning and Development, Nialé Kaba, acknowledged a “moderate risk of over-indebtedness.”
The presentation took place on Wednesday, January 29, 2025, at the Prime Minister’s office, as part of a forum called “Les rendez-vous du gouvernement” (Government Meetings).
Minister Kaba stated that the risk of over-indebtedness is “moderate,” with a ratio estimated at 58.1% of GDP, well below the 70% community standard for the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA).
She emphasised that debt should be assessed in relation to wealth creation. “It must be considered in terms of GDP, because it is economic activity that will generate taxes to repay it,” she said.
“Cote d’Ivoire’s debt is virtuous because it allows for investments,” she argued, pointing out that economic activity has helped reduce the poverty rate from 55.4% in 2011 to 37.5% in 2021, a decrease of 17.9 percentage points.
Minister Kaba also highlighted improvements in the Human Development Index (HDI), which assesses a country’s level of human development through health, education, and income. The HDI rose from 0.468 in 2011 to 0.550 in 2021, an increase of approximately 17.5%.
“Life expectancy has increased from 56.57 years in 2012 to 61.94 years in 2023,” she added, emphasising that “planning in developing countries is a powerful tool for transforming the economy and changing people’s living conditions.”
“The return to strategic planning, combined with the effective implementation of national development plans, has led to significant results in all areas of socio-economic life,” she continued.
She further mentioned that GDP per capita has almost doubled, from 789,803 to 1,535,135 CFA francs, between 2012 and 2023, while “the real GDP growth rate averaged 8% between 2012 and 2019, 0.7% in 2020, before rebounding to 6.5% over the period 2021-2024.”
The minister then outlined the challenges to be addressed to continue economic growth, including human capital development, strengthening domestic resource mobilisation, and improving the efficiency of public spending.
Regarding economic prospects, the minister observed that they “remain good, with the continuation of public finance consolidation, the dynamism of the extractive sector, and the strengthening of the industrial sector.”
AP/sf/lb/APA