Author: Jean-Mermoz Konandi

LafargeHolcim Côte d’Ivoire conducted a vaccination campaign on 4 May for the benefit of students in three schools located in the area of ​​its industrial base in Abidjan. Conducted with the support of the National Institute of Public Hygiene (INHP), the operation was used to vaccinate 600 schoolchildren from the Port, Vridi 3 and Vridi Canal school groups against AC meningitis, typhoid fever and tetanus. These 3 pathologies are classified among the most virulent for children. Meningitis is an infection of the envelopes surrounding the brain, with a high mortality rate, at 10%, and a high epidemic potential. Typhoid fever…

NSIA Banque Côte d’Ivoire achieved an annual net profit of 19.540 billion CFA francs, or 29.79 million euros, at the end of the 2017 financial year. This profit, up 14%, notably benefited from the “Income on financial transactions”. Which jumped more than 800% to 60.6 billion FCFA against 7.24 billion a year earlier. For this year, 12 billion FCFA of gross dividends will be distributed for a remuneration of 518 CFA francs gross per share. With 2017, the balance sheet total of the NSIA Bank Côte d’Ivoire passes the milestone of 1,000 billion FCFA, to 1 044 billion, or 1.59…

Côte d’Ivoire will record the deployment of a fourth digital submarine cable to improve its national and international connectivity. The country has just awarded a C1B license to MainOne, a Nigerian operator of connectivity and data center solutions, which will land its submarine cable and build transmission infrastructure in Côte d’Ivoire with the aim of expanding access to the international bandwidth market in Côte d’Ivoire, but also in other countries in the WAEMU zone, and lower bandwidth costs for local internet service providers, mobile operators and businesses local, $ 20 million investment With a total investment of $ 20 million,…

The Moroccan group Banque Centrale Populaire (BCP) unveiled on April 24 in Abidjan the new visual identity of its holding company ABI (Atlantic Business International) which covers its 16 subsidiaries in 9 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The new presentation that consolidates the African character of BCP resumes its graphic charter with the emblem of the horse, the “unique intangible capital” so characteristic of this pan-African banking giant. The African subsidiaries will therefore adopt the pageantry of the group while maintaining their brand name in order to “consolidate its anchoring and rooting at the local level,” said Kamal Mokdad, the director…

The boss of the French group Bolloré, well known for its port concessions in Africa, was placed in custody Tuesday, April 24 morning in the premises of the judicial police in Nanterre, France, according to information relayed by the French press. The powerful French boss is suspected of “bribing foreign public officials” in the context of the award, in 2010, management contracts ports of Conakry, Guinea, and Lome, Togo. A charge that is brought against its world-renowned subsidiary Havas, specialized in communication and advertising, which would have been activated to facilitate the arrival of some African leaders in power by…

Eaton, a global specialist in electrical equipment, has tripled its turnover in the last ten years of its presence in Côte d’Ivoire, said Kassem Benhaddou, the company’s North Africa and French sales director, during a conference in Paris. the favor of the opening of the new office of the firm in the Ivorian economic capital. A performance which is also valid for the 8 countries of the French-speaking West Africa zone covered by the Abidjan office, Benhaddou said, without giving any figures. “We have been present in Côte d’Ivoire for ten years and this event reflects our desire to strengthen…

The Moroccan group Banque Centrale Populaire has chosen Abidjan for the launch of its brand new visual identity that will also be adopted by its African subsidiaries. The event to be held on April 24th at the legendary Hôtel Ivoire, will begin the deployment of a unique visual presentation for BCP Group, its West African holding company ABI (Atlantic Business International), and all of its 16 subsidiaries on the continent (including the Atlantic Bank network) in 12 countries. Indiscretions, we learn that the logo will be completely revamped with however a detail: the emblematic horse in full race of the…

Banque Atlantique Côte d’Ivoire has granted a loan envelope of 354.4 million FCFA, or just over 540,000 euros, for the benefit of 25 SMEs run by women. This is a second series of funding granted under the Fund for the Promotion of Women Entrepreneurship, a fund made available to the State of Côte d’Ivoire by the Banque Centrale Populaire du Maroc group – thanks to a framework agreement between the two countries – to support the ambition of women with an entrepreneurial project. Set up last year in partnership with the Ministry of Commerce, Handicrafts and Promotion of SMEs, the…

The portability of mobile numbers should be effective from next June, announced on Monday Bilé Diéméléou, the Director General of ARTCI, after the success of the tests of portability made the same day in the presence of mobile operators. “Portability guarantees the free will of the consumer who, therefore, has the possibility, when he is not satisfied with his operator, to subscribe to the operator of his choice without having to give up his number or ‘to acquire another’, explained Bilé Diéméléou, quoted by the daily Fraternité Matin. The Ivorian mobile market has 31.75 million subscriptions with a penetration rate…

Côte d’Ivoire enters the circle of bauxite producing countries. The first-ever Bauxite mine officially went into operation on Monday, April 16th. Located in the Moronou region, in the east of the country, the Bauxite mine, exploited in the Bénéné forest, is an important deposit of 300 km2 now estimated at 35 million tonnes of ore. LEB, Lagune Exploitation Bougouanou, the “Ivorian-owned” company headed by Michel Moumouni Bictogo, has announced a global investment of CFAF 218 billion, or € 3,332.3 million, for the development of the deposit that will take place in three phases. During the first 5 years, LEB will…

The ARTCI, the regulator of the telecommunications sector in Côte d’Ivoire, conducted this April 16 the first tests on the portability of mobile numbers. Portability allows you to keep your mobile number even when you switch operators. The project, entrusted to the internet access provider VIPNET in June 2017 after a call for tenders, will, once operational, upset habits in an Ivorian market where the penetration rate is estimated at 127.7%. % with 31.75 million subscriptions at the end of 2017, according to the regulator’s figures. In fact, the quality of service remains a challenge. An insufficiency that had led…

As of February 21, 2018, there were 1,878 million people registered in the database of the BIC (the bureau of information on credit) of the WAEMU zone, said Tiémoko Meyliet Koné, the governor of the BCEAO, during of a conference in Abidjan on March 1 at the invitation of the employers These data were collected from 148 credit and microfinance institutions subject to the 185 affected by this credit information-sharing system. In detail, these figures concern 17,242 legal persons and 1.86 million natural persons. Operational since February 2016, the BIC, whose management is entrusted to Creditinfo Volo, was implemented in…

Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara began a three-day visit to Kuwait on Sunday at the invitation of Emir Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah. During this stay, which will be marked by the signing of cooperation agreements, a meeting is planned between the two men as well as with the business community. “We will be able to discuss issues related to cooperation between our two countries (…) and especially invite the authorities and the private sector to focus on investment in Côte d’Ivoire,” said Ivorian television chief of the Ivorian executive. Kuwait is active in the Ivorian economy through the “Kuwait…

The mobile money sector now has an international certification program, an initiative of the GSMA, the worldwide association of mobile operators, which wants to be “a seal of excellence” to hoist the providers of Mobile money to the best practices at the global level. With 690 million active accounts and $ 1 billion in daily transactions worldwide, Mobile Money is now a booming corporate phenomenon in emerging markets, particularly in Africa. The success of this service, however, is based on the trust of users and the quality of the services offered. And it is to ensure the reliability of this…

Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara officially installed this April 13 the National Council of Economic Policy (CNPE), a body of “strategic analysis and economic intelligence” which is directly attached to the presidency of the Republic. Announced at the beginning of the year, the CNPE is an “important instrument for governance” by which the country intends to be “the main actor of its development” said the Ivorian president. Its mission will be, in synergy with the government, to “identify and propose solutions to major national and international economic challenges” facing the country and decide “medium and long-term strategic directions” to enable it…

$ 51 billion, this will be the annual contribution of the mobile sector to the West African economy by 2022, reports the latest report of GSMA made public this April 11 in Abidjan during the meeting “Mobile 360 ​​- West Africa “. Entitled “The Mobile Economy: West Africa 2018”, the paper notes that the mobile ecosystem has reported, at the end of 2017, $ 37 billion in revenue in the region, or 6.5% of GDP, a figure that will have to grow by nearly 38% to “51 billion dollars” in 5 years, ie in 2022. 72 million additional subscribers in…

The World Bank has decided on April 11 to grant a loan of 200 million dollars to Côte d’Ivoire as part of a project to promote the cashew nut sector. The aim is to help the authorities to increase the productivity and quality of the nuts and to promote the development of processing, the main weakness of the sector. The country’s third largest export product ($ 800 million in exports) – after cocoa and refined petroleum products – with production of 711,000 tonnes in 2017, or 23% of world supply, cashew is a strategic product for the country. “The cashew…

Launched in 2016, the headquarters of the Sino-Congolese Bank for Africa (BSCA) was inaugurated with great fanfare on April 10 in Brazzaville in the presence of Congolese President Denis Sassou N’Guesso. The last born of the local banking landscape, BSCA, which started its activities in mid-2015, is the symbol of the close relations between the Middle Kingdom and the Congo. Owned at 50% by the Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), the establishment aims to make Congo the basis of its influence in Africa. “This building is in line with BSCA Bank’s long-term development strategy. Indeed, today, this building houses the…

Russian aircraft manufacturers are set to conquer the African market. As part of a partnership between the Russian Export Center and Afreximbank, a series of roadshows is scheduled from April 8 to 15 to raise awareness of Russian planes and helicopters on the continent. Five African cities will be successively visited during this campaign (Nairobi, Kampala, Lagos, Abuja and Bamako) during which the Russian aircraft MC21, Sukhoi Superjet, Sukhoi Business Jet and helicopters manufactured in Russia will be presented. Representatives from Africa’s commercial aviation sector will be in attendance as well as officials from tourism ministries, civil aviation authorities, aircraft…

The Ecobank Mobile app, a unified financial services app across 33 African countries, has processed 9 million transactions, totaling more than $ 1 billion since its launch 18 months ago, announces this April 9 th bank Panafrican Ecobank in a statement. The app that allows the instant opening of an Ecobank Xpress account on a mobile phone, currently claims 4 million users, account holders. Several features are offered ranging from the transfer of money (to an individual, a bank account or mobile money or for the benefit of Visa cardholders) to the settlement of purchases through withdrawals without cards to…

Standard Bank, which had a representative office in Abidjan since 2013, officially launched its Ivorian subsidiary on April 9 under the name of Stanbic Bank Côte d’Ivoire, after having obtained its banking license in 2016. A member of the South African Standard Bank, the continent’s leading banking institution, the new subsidiary is a sign of growing interest in West Africa. “When it came to (…) rethinking, reorienting and re-energizing Standard Bank Group’s African strategy, particularly in West Africa, the remarkable economic performance and stability found in Côte d’Ivoire, an obvious choice to create a bank, “explained Michel Brizoua-Bi, Chairman of…

Atlantic Business International (ABI), a subsidiary of the Moroccan group Banque Centrale Populaire at the head of the Banque Atlantique network, has signed a partnership with the IFC (International Finance Corporation, World Bank Group) as part of a project to implement a platform dedicated to strengthening the value chain financing opportunities of one of the continent’s key economic sectors. Through this agreement, ABI favors innovation in its credit portfolio diversification strategy based on IFC expertise, in order to better meet the needs of stakeholders in the agricultural sector in West Africa, mainly in Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire and Mali through…

Côte d’Ivoire: the IMF plans “the continuation of robust growth” in the medium term The Ivorian economy has a good day ahead of it despite the less favorable context of keeping down cocoa prices. At the end of a stay that began in Abidjan on March 22, Dhaneshwar Ghura, head of a delegation of the IMF, said that “economic activity should remain strong in 2018 and the medium-term prospects project the continuation of ‘robust growth’. The mission, which was to review the three-year economic and financial program supported by the IMF, provided an overview of national economic news. In 2017,…

Côte d’Ivoire has a project portfolio of CFAF 1,151.25 billion (€ 1.75 billion) since 2012 under C2D, the deleveraging and development contract, the Ivorian government said on Wednesday. . It is a mechanism to reconvert French debt, which, once repaid, is reinvested in favor of development projects and programs. The sectoral review of C2D projects held in early March noted that Abidjan has “honored all the repayment deadlines of its debt”. The first C2D (2012-2015) focused on projects worth CFAF 413.25 billion, which are “mostly completed”. The second, which runs for the period 2015-2017 for 738 billion francs concerns “many…

The Ivorian government announced on April 4 the establishment of a supplementary funded pension plan for the benefit of civil servants and agents of the State. The funded pension plan gradually builds up capital (subsidized at the end of the year by interest), which is then paid back in various ways at the time of retirement. According to Bruno Koné, the government spokesperson, the resources can be returned to civil servants at the time of retirement either in full, or month after month. The measure is adopted as part of the pension reform and the National Social Protection Strategy aimed…

Atlantic Business International (ABI), holding company of the Banque Centrale Populaire Group, and the French Institute of Executive Management Education (IFG) respectively represented by Ahmed BENLAFKIH, Deputy General Manager in charge of Retail and Sylvie FAUCHEUX, General Manager, signed this 28 March a partnership agreement on an offer of financing Executive training courses offered to executives and senior executives of companies. The agreement aims to facilitate access to IFG’s continuing education programs through a credit offer whose terms and conditions include amounts and duration adapted to the cost of the training and to the specific needs of the privileged targets,…

CARENA, a subsidiary of Bolloré that operates the largest ship repair yard in West Africa, strengthens its operational capabilities with the acquisition of a third dock, a “rare product” finally acquired after several years of research. The dock is a floating structure that allows ships to leave the water before carrying out maintenance operations. “We must first sink the dock by filling its holds, position the floating ship above, then, emptying the compartments of the dock, bring it up and the ship with him” explained Arnaud Feger, Director General of CARENA, at the ceremony of official presentation of the new…

Quantum Global Research Lab, the independent research division of Quantum Global, presented the Africa Investment Index (AII) * index to the Africa CEO Forum, which draws up annually the attractiveness of African countries over the medium term. as regards investment. The IIA is based on macroeconomic and financial indicators as well as the World Bank’s Doing Business Index. According to the latest ranking Africa Investment Index 2018 (AII), Morocco is the most attractive economy for investments directed to the African continent. The kingdom is characterized by a particularly favorable business environment, a low risk profile, the size of its economy…

After the deployment of its electrification program in rural areas, in DR Congo and Madagascar, Orange is strengthening its ambition to become a key player in the energy transition in Africa. The multinational has launched this Tuesday, on the sidelines of the Africa CEO Forum, a solar offer in Burkina Faso, a step before then tackle Senegal, Mali, Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire. Half of the 1.2 billion African population does not have access to electricity and the energy supply of the continent is equivalent to that of a country like Spain with its 44 million inhabitants, recalled the Ivorian President…

After having decided to deploy joint storage capacities with the support of the AfDB, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana are deepening their ambition to build a cartel around cocoa. On 26 March, on the sidelines of the Africa CEO Forum, Presidents Alassane Ouattara and Akufo-Addo signed an agreement called “Declaration of Abidjan” (see the declaration below) in which the two countries commit themselves to ” harmonize their cocoa marketing policy “. In this case, the two countries that account for 60% of the world cocoa supply have decided to “announce each year, concomitantly and before the start of the campaign, the…