(Ecofin Agency) - According to Ivorian authorities, less than 10% of companies with Ivorian majority ownership are in the top 500 in the country. The country is therefore undertaking actions to enhance the value of local firms for effective implementation of its development strategy, Vision 2030. 

Côte d’Ivoire recently launched PEPITE, an economic program to boost innovation and transform businesses. The program was launched, Wednesday (October 5), by Prime Minister Patrick Achi, during a ceremony attended by several government officials. 

The program targets very small and medium-sized enterprises (VSEs, SMEs) as well as intermediate-sized enterprises (ETIs) with high growth potential. In total, 15 business segments divided into three sectoral clusters (the agricultural and agro-industrial, the industry, and the services clusters) will be targeted by the program. The targeted companies will benefit from "streamlined public support to accelerate their growth" in order to "meet the needs of the domestic market, then conquer international markets and strengthen Côte d’Ivoire’s competitive position.”

One of the long-term objectives of that program is to attract investment and improve the position of local private companies in international value chains by helping them work their way up.

The program is in line with the government’s strategy to boost the private sector’s participation in national development. "This program is a confirmation [...] of our desire to continue and expand a decade of extraordinary recovery [achieved] thanks to the Head of State's leadership, actions carried out by public authorities, and Ivorians’ hard work by successfully implementing the 2030 goals aimed at national prosperity and solidarity. It also marks the beginning of a mindset transformation that will make the private sector the future driver of a powerful, sustainable, and shared socio-economic development, under the impetus of a focused and strategic partner -the State- that will help it innovate, evolve, and perform better,” Prime Minister Achi said.

A few months ago, Ivorian authorities announced plans to increase the country’s average growth to 7% annually by 2025. For that purpose, it intends to raise investment from 23.1% of GDP in 2021 to 27.1% in 2025 with investment forecasted to reach US$105 billion; 14% of that investment will be concentrated in the private sector. 

The companies that will benefit from the PEPITE program will be selected after a preselection and final selection round entrusted to an expert panel. Interested companies should register between October 5 and December 30, 2022. 

Moutiou Adjibi Nourou