Abidjan, April 4 2025 – UNIDO Director General Gerd Müller visited Côte d'Ivoire in order to reaffirm shared priorities and common goals for sustainable industrial development in the country and the joint commitment together with the Government to soon launch a Programme for Country Partnership (PCP) with Côte d'Ivoire. 

Côte d'Ivoire successfully implemented three National Development Plans (NDP) in 2012-2015, 2016-2020, and 2021-2025 with UNIDO’s assistance to support industrial policy development and initiatives to foster inclusive and sustainable economic growth. UNIDO is currently involved in the development process of the next National Development Plan (2026-2030). 

Although Cote d’Ivoire is amongst the ten most industrialized countries in Africa, it still faces many challenges preventing it from reaching its full industrial potential.  With the soon to be launched PCP, which will be tailored exclusively to the country’s unique circumstances and needs, UNIDO will support the country in the creation of decent jobs, in particular for youth and women, in increasing local value addition in key sectors, in improving productivity and promoting the development of higher-technology sectors. It will be an implementation tool for Côte d'Ivoire's own national strategies, whereby UNIDO will help to mobilize investment and use the Organization’s technical expertise and worldwide network to achieve maximum impact.

Director General Müller: “UNIDO’s long-standing cooperation with Côte d'Ivoire has been going on for 40 years. Côte d'Ivoire has huge economic potential: it is one of the fastest growing economies in Africa. With our growing cooperation we will soon mark a new milestone on the way to unlocking Côte d'Ivoire’s sustainable economic and industrial development potential with broad-based partnerships, particularly mobilizing resources from the private sector to achieve these goals in agro-industry and processing, the textile sector, skills development and digitalization, sustainable energy and more.”

During his visit, Director General Müller met with Vice-President Tiémoko Meyliet Kone. They discussed how UNIDO can further strengthen its contribution to Côte d'Ivoire's Vision 2030 and the National Development Plan 2026-2030, both of which emphasize the key role of industrialization in achieving the country's development goals.

The Director General also met with the Prime Minister of Côte d’Ivoire, Robert Mambé Beugre. Together they discussed how UNIDO can further strengthen its support of the country’s needs in the future, including novel methods of upscaling the ongoing sustainable industrialization process in the country, including through the mobilization of funding via innovative financial mechanisms, increasing local value-addition, as well as shared solutions through enhanced South-South and Triangular cooperation. 

Müller also held talks with Souleymane Diarassouba, Minister of Trade and Industry, which focused on moving the existing long and fruitful cooperation to the next level with the Programme for Country Partnership, whereby UNIDO will be a key partner, working together in areas such as agro-industry, textiles, pharmaceuticals, packaging, automotive and building materials, furnishings and equipment value chains.