(Ecofin Agency) - According to a statement by Siandou Fofana (picture), the Ivorian minister of tourism, Côte d’Ivoire wants to invest about CFA3, 000 billion ($5.5 billion) to boost tourism in the country.

This investment will be made through two funds, expected to be operational this year. The first fund (CFA500 billion) should allow the construction of new major infrastructures thanks to the vast mobilization of private actors.   

The second one, a CFA2, 500 billion (more than $4 billion) fund, which will run till 2025, should allow the government to upgrade and modernize many roads, tourist sites, and big hotels. “This sovereign fund will be financed with income from the sale of lands intended for tourist projects, of which part will be directed to the construction and development of tourist sites”, the minister said. 

Since the end of the political crisis, all the performance indicators show an improvement in the tourism sector. Moreover, this sector accounted for 7.5% of the country’s GDP in 2016 against 0.6% in 2011 and should record a yearly increase of 5.4% till 2026, according to the Ivorian authorities’ outlook.

These new investments fall in line with the government’s wish to diversify the economy. Additionally, they should support economic growth in the coming years and help reduce the effects of fluctuations, in cocoa prices, on export revenues.