• ASA-CI proposes mandatory supplementary pensions for private-sector workers in Côte d’Ivoire
  
• Life-insurance penetration remains low at 0.6% of GDP in 2024
  
• Industry seeks tax incentives and regulation to boost savings and investment

Côte d’Ivoire’s Association of Insurance Companies (ASA-CI) has called for a mandatory supplementary pension plan for private-sector workers. The proposal was presented at the country’s first life-insurance conference, held in Abidjan on Dec. 3-4.

Under the proposed scheme, private-sector employees would make additional contributions to boost their future retirement income, as the basic pension often fails to cover living costs, according to the ASA-CI.

To support the new plan, the ASA-CI urged the government to develop tailored retirement savings and investment products for households and to introduce tax incentives. The goal is to encourage greater uptake of life-insurance and long-term savings products.

ASA-CI President Mamadou GK. Kone said the industry is seeking a regulatory framework that would allow it to play a larger role in financing the economy.

A Market Still Limited, Despite Progress

Life-insurance penetration in Côte d’Ivoire remains low at 0.6% of GDP, said Vassogbo Bamba, deputy chief of staff to the minister of Finance and Budget. In 2024, life-insurance premiums totalled 266.7 billion CFA francs ($474 million), while the overall insurance market generated 628 billion CFA francs.

Life-insurance assets under management reached an estimated 1,086 billion CFA francs in 2024, a level industry officials say is too low to meet the economy’s financing needs or households’ savings potential.

Kone said expanding the insurance market would strengthen family protection, broaden long-term savings, and support more sustainable economic financing.

Chamberline Moko