All Countries and All Sectors

Amid the eurozone’s well-publicised difficulties, one might be forgiven for thinking monetary unions are falling out of fashion. However, the appetite for shared currencies is still strong in Africa, with two large regional groupings already proving their benefits, in Francophone West Africa and Francophone Central Africa. Although they are smaller-...

Côte d’Ivoire has seen a dramatic turnaround in its fiscal health in recent years, with an improving outlook for headline growth and a reduced debt load. When the Ivoirian economy hit the skids from the late 1970s onwards, its debt levels spiralled ever higher, increasing ten-fold between 1975 and 1995. Private sector creditors predominated until...

The tax system in Côte d’Ivoire is based on the legislation that existed at the time of the country’s independence in 1960. It has since undergone several amendments intended to take into account the country’s economic and social evolution and budgetary constraints. A powerful and qualified tax authority enforces taxpayers’ obligations.

Following years of crisis, Côte d’Ivoire has been eager to recapture its former crown as the most dynamic economy in West Africa, and with the benefits of both stability and headline growth, the prospects are encouraging. After decades of chronic under-investment by the public and private sectors alike, much of Côte d’Ivoire’s economic fabric and...

Hydrocarbons are not the only underground resource to yield billions of dollars of profit in Saudi Arabia. The mining of metallic ores, phosphates, bauxite and construction materials is an area of growth which the government hopes will become the third pillar of the economy, after oil and petrochemicals.

The emergence of two mining cities in Saudi Arabia could galvanise further private sector investment both upstream and downstream, with a host of new rail linkages set to sweeten the deal.