Three partnership agreements were signed by Egypt and Côte d’Ivoire during the visit of Abdel Fattah Al-Sissi, Egypt’s president, in Abidjan yesterday April 12, 2019, in the health, culture and IT sectors.

During the signing ceremony, Alassane Ouattara, president of Côte d’Ivoire invited Egyptian entrepreneurs to take advantage of incentives offered by his country’s investment code to enter into the agricultural product processing industry.

 "We agreed to strengthen our partnerships by developing a broader network and trade exchanges, encouraging Egyptian investments in Côte d’Ivoire and reinforcing our capabilities in civil and military domains," Abdel Fattah Al-Sissi said.

Let’s note that the volume of trade exchanges between Côte d’Ivoire and Egypt is relatively low. In 2018, it was estimated at XOF31.968 billion (about $55 million) and XOF32.464 billion ($56 million) in 2017.

Côte d’Ivoire imports cereals, semi-milled rice, sugar, milk products, fresh fruits and vegetables, combustible minerals, and various products from Egypt. Egypt on the other hand imports raw coffee, chocolate oilcake and sawn wood.

According to Côte d'Ivoire's minister of foreign affairs, the two countries’ trade balance favoured Egypt in 2014-2018.

Zeinab Dosso (intern)