Côte d'Ivoire

What can be done to increase banking penetration and savings rates?

The Basel III banking accords mark the latest step in the process of harmonising financial regulations across markets, but the nature of their focus – and some of the problems they seek to solve – mean that their relevance to Africa’s emerging and frontier markets can sometimes be limited.

Following the phenomenal success of Kenya’s 10-year-old M-Pesa programme, mobile money and mobile banking initiatives have begun popping up across the African continent. Beginning as a simple and secure way to transfer small amounts of money, mobile money programmes have evolved to offering subscribers a full suite of financial services,...

The insurance sector in Côte d’Ivoire has been posting solid growth figures for years. The pickup in the country’s economy after 2012 has made the sector increasingly attractive, prompting the arrival of new competitors aiming to establish a foothold in West Africa’s biggest insurance market.

From the Arab Maghreb Union in the north to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) at the other end of the continent, the African Union recognises eight regional economic communities. UEMOA, of which Côte d’Ivoire is a founding member, is one of the continent’s more institutionally integrated unions, with member states sharing a...

THE COMPANY: Established in 1956, SIFCA Group took over Société Africaine de Plantations d’Hévéas (SAPH) through its subsidiaries OMNIPAR and SIPH in 1999. The rubber industry leader in Africa, SAPH has a production capacity of 180,000 tonnes per year and five main integrated farm units located in...