Côte d’Ivoire’s macroeconomic performance and general business climate has improved remarkably over the past years. The country has improved its ranking on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business ranking from 158 in 2014 to 122 in 2019 (out of 190 economies). This positive development stems from the implementation of several reforms allowing for a sharp improvement of the business environment. Among other things, Côte d’Ivoire made starting a business easier by reducing the minimum capital requirement, lowering registration fees and enabling the one-stop shop to publish notices of incorporation. Côte d’Ivoire ranks 2nd among West African countries, with Ghana ranking 1st.
Cote d’Ivoire has an investment promotion center, CEPICI (Centre des Promotions des Investissements en Cote d’Ivoire), which provides investment information and assistance for entrepreneurs interested in starting a business in Cote d’Ivoire.
Incidents of political
violence have gradually decreased since President Ouattara assumed office in
May 2011, but some political tensions still persist with violent attacks
occurring occasionally on the Liberian border. Furthermore, there is an
underlying threat from terrorism and retaliatory attacks in Côte d’Ivoire due
to its participation in the 2012 intervention in Mali. That being said, most
people find little trouble in coming to Côte d’Ivoire to explore business
opportunities, and the commercial centre Abidjan is relatively safe compared to
other big cities in Western Africa.
Time-consciousness and punctuality have another saying in Africa than in Denmark, and Côte d’Ivoire is no exception. Danish companies must therefore accept that things do not always come around in the same pace as in Denmark or other foreign markets. Time plans feasible under Danish standards risk not being realistic in Côte d'Ivoire.
Bureaucratic corruption in Côte d’Ivoire worsened drastically due to the political instability and armed conflict following the 2002 coup. Although the situation has improved over the past few years, Côte d’Ivoire continues to rank rather poorly in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) compared to its neighbours in West Africa. With a score of 36 on a scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean) in the 2017 ranking, Côte d’Ivoire ranks more poorly than other countries in Western Africa, including Ghana, Burkina Faso, Benin and Senegal.
French is the official language in Côte d’Ivoire and the use of English language is limited. A basic knowledge of French can therefore prove to be essential when conducting business and travelling in Côte d’Ivoire.