(Ecofin Agency) - Côte d'Ivoire has set plans to boost its economy, leveraging key sectors including tourism. The "Sublime Côte d'Ivoire" project set up by the government is expected to make the country a hub of tourism in Africa.

Côte d'Ivoire aims to become the fifth tourist destination in Africa. The announcement was made by the Prime Minister, Patrick Achi, on September 27, during the celebration of the 41st World Tourism Day.

The official said tourism, arts, and leisure are key points of the national growth plan and one of the most important spheres of the "structural transformation" of the Ivorian economy. The Sublime Côte d'Ivoire project “aims to position Côte d'Ivoire as the 5th African tourist destination, and to reach five million visitors by 2025, creating 750,000 jobs.”

The project will essentially contribute to selling the country's tourism potential through the promotion of its seaside beaches, natural parks, maritime coast with an extraordinary diversity of fauna and flora. This will eventually make Côte d'Ivoire a tourist hub in Africa.

"We are convinced that it is possible to reinvent a tourism that better respects the aspirations of individuals, the needs of our societies, and the requirements of our planet," he said.

According to World Bank figures, tourism has been steadily increasing in Côte d'Ivoire for over ten years. While in 2007 the country received the visit of 182,000 tourists, this number has grown to more than two million in twelve years.

 Jean-Marc Gogbeu (intern)