Côte d'Ivoire outlines re-globalization agenda for trade and industrial growth

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Côte d'Ivoire re-globalization agenda

Highlights

President Ouattara told the WTO on 29 October that Côte d'Ivoire seeks re-globalization to boost value creation, competitiveness and industrial transformation beyond raw material exports.
Ouattara cited Côte d'Ivoire's average economic growth of 7 per cent from 2012 to 2025, driven by trade expansion, market diversification and improved production capacity.
Ouattara highlighted African regional integration and the African Continental Free Trade Area as crucial for scaling Ivorian businesses, enhancing competitiveness and building regional value chains.

WTO lecture sets out policy priorities

As reported by the World Trade Organization, Ouattara told the latest Presidential Lecture under the WTO's Presidential Lecture Series on 29 October that re-globalization can help developing countries secure a bigger role in industrial production, transformation, marketing and innovation.

He says the effort requires coherent public policies, stronger international cooperation and trade rules that allow the most vulnerable economies to capture more of the opportunities created by global commerce. In his remarks, he links that approach to Côte d'Ivoire's aim of moving beyond a model centred mainly on raw material exports toward value creation, competitiveness and productive transformation.

Ouattara also points to Côte d'Ivoire's own economic record as evidence of that strategy, saying the country posts average growth of 7 per cent between 2012 and 2025 despite shocks including the COVID-19 pandemic. He says that period includes expanding trade, gradual market diversification and stronger production capacity, supported by an improved business climate, stronger governance, a sound macroeconomic framework and sustainable debt management.

African market integration seen as growth lever

Ouattara says African regional integration remains a major opportunity for businesses that need larger markets to achieve economies of scale, recover investment and improve competitiveness.

He identifies the African Continental Free Trade Area as an important mechanism for expanding opportunities for Ivorian companies, easing trade flows and supporting the emergence of regional value chains.

WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala says in her welcoming remarks that the global trading system is going through a difficult period and that African economies face uncertainty and fragmentation in access to external markets. She adds that trade still offers a route to growth, development and job creation for the continent, but says national leadership and policy change, alongside reforms at the WTO and elsewhere, are needed to turn that potential into results.

In our earlier article on the WTO’s assessment of conflict-driven trade disruptions, we covered how wars and rising geopolitical risks are prompting companies to redesign supply chains and shipping routes in ways that could outlast the immediate crises. We also noted the WTO’s view that regional trade—particularly deeper intra-African trade—may expand as countries and businesses look for more resilient, closer-to-home growth opportunities amid fragmentation and uncertainty.

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