President Alassane Dramane Ouattara: Viewpoint

Viewpoint: President Alassane Dramane Ouattara

Peace and stability were consolidated in 2021, with the first inclusive legislative elections in Côte d’Ivoire in 20 years. On the security front, defence and security forces have been mobilised to counter all issues at a time when terrorism constitutes a threat both within our borders and throughout the subregion. We will continue to strengthen our defence and security capacities. We will also invest in socio-economic infrastructure in order to combat terrorism and all other forms of threats.

The year 2021 was the first year of the implementation of the One Côte d’Ivoire Solidarity project, which aims to consolidate the government’s achievements in the years since 2010 and accelerate the transformation of our economy. Indeed, the government has implemented important reforms, and at the same time made significant investment in the rehabilitation and extension of our economic and social infrastructure. This was done in order to provide better quality of life to our fellow citizens. We will continue to invest in infrastructure to improve traffic flow in Abidjan, open up rural areas to commerce and investment, connect all regional capitals and make all towns accessible via paved roads. Large-scale projects such as the fourth Yopougon-Plateau bridge, the Cocody bridge and the Indénié interchange will be completed by end-2022. Looking to the future, in 2022 the government will continue to build the extension of the North Motorway to Bouaké, the rehabilitation of the Abidjan-San Pédro coastline and launch the construction of eight new interchanges in Abidjan.

The difficulties we experienced in the first half of 2021 in the energy sector are behind us. Our goal is to electrify all localities in the country before the end of 2025. We have already made strides: in 2021 around 205,000 households benefited from the Electricity For All programme, bringing the total number of beneficiaries to around 1.2m households.

In 2021 Cote d’Ivoire made an important discovery of oil and gas in the Whale field, which will begin production in 2023. The facility will boost the country’s output of oil and gas, and supply an adequate quantity of gas to the power sector. This important discovery bodes well for our country in terms of resources for financing development projects and training our young people, as well as in terms of job creation and economic opportunities.

We have provided access to drinking water to millions of Ivorians. As of early 2022 more than 80% of Ivorians living in our cities and over 70% living in rural areas had access to drinking water. The government will continue to strengthen the national drinking water supply in order to cope with the rapid urbanisation of our cities. These efforts will also improve the quality of life in our villages. In the education sector, meanwhile, recent reforms and new recommendations will help improve the content and teaching methods of our education system.

The transformation of our economy we must go even further and faster in transforming Côte d’Ivoire and improving the standard of living for each of its inhabitants. This is why we are going to modernise the agriculture sector: to increase yields and incomes of producers, reduce the cost of living and accelerate industrialisation. These will be done through the local transformation of raw materials and enhanced access to education, health care and decent housing at an affordable cost.

Another priority for 2022 is supporting the employment of young people and women. Developing the private sector will be key to meeting this goal, as is fostering a strong start-up ecosystem. We will establish a programme to support and promote the financing of start-ups and young entrepreneurs, and work with the private sector to reduce payment delays. We will also promote local content in order to emerge as leaders in key areas of the economy.