• Côte d’Ivoire signs $156.8M farm deal with Italy’s BF Group
• 10,000-hectare project aims to cut food imports, boost crops
• BF expands West Africa presence with projects in Ghana, Senegal

Côte d'Ivoire's Minister of Agriculture, Kobenan Kouassi Adjoumani, signed a 134 million euro ($156.8 million) investment agreement with Italian agribusiness group Bonifiche Ferraresi (BF) on Sept. 25. The deal covers the establishment and development of a 10,000-hectare pilot farm in Tagadi, located in the Sorobango sub-prefecture, according to local state media Agence ivoirienne de presse (AIP).

Authorities say the initiative is designed to improve agricultural production and food security by reducing dependence on imported wheat and rice while boosting local crops such as yams, corn, millet, chili peppers, and eggplant. Details regarding the start of activities have not yet been disclosed.

For the Italian group, developing an agricultural production project in Côte d'Ivoire is an opportunity to capture a share of the country's substantial annual food import spending.

A July report, "The State of Commodity Dependence 2025," from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), noted that Côte d'Ivoire imported an average of nearly $2.90 billion in foodstuffs between 2021 and 2023. Key imported staples include rice, soft wheat, and various flours.

The new project in Côte d'Ivoire continues BF Group's expansion across West Africa, marking its presence in three countries in the region. Since August 2024, the company has been involved in a $98.5 million project to develop a 5,000-hectare agricultural estate in Aveyime-Battor, Ghana, in the Volta region.

More recently, in April 2025, BF also signed a memorandum of understanding with the mayor of the Kaour commune in Senegal to implement a similar agribusiness project, which will focus on developing a 10,000-hectare agricultural area.

Stéphanas Assocle