Home Communiqués des ministres COMMUNIQUE OF THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS OF WEDNESDAY 09 APRIL 2025

COMMUNIQUE OF THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS OF WEDNESDAY 09 APRIL 2025

On Wednesday 09 April 2025, a Council of Ministers was held from 11:00 to 13:45, at the Palais de la Présidence de la République in Abidjan, under the chairmanship of His Excellency Mr Alassane OUATTARA, President of the Republic, Head of State.

The deliberations of the Council focused on the following points:

A/-General measures,

B/-Individual measures

C/-Communication

D/-Miscellaneous

A/- GENERAL MEASURES

BILLS

The Council adopted a bill on medical biology.

This bill aims to adapt the practice of medical biology to the new requirements of the hospital reform initiated by the Government. It lays down the conditions for authorising the opening of a medical laboratory, for both individuals and legal entities, the rules for practising medical biology in Côte d’Ivoire and the procedures for controlling the quality of examinations and the disposal of medical waste.

This is an unprecedented measure in the field of medical biology in Côte d’Ivoire, designed to ensure the quality of medical biology laboratories and to guarantee the quality and reliability of medical biology examinations, with a view to safeguarding the safety of patients and the environment in the long term, in line with other reforms in the medical sector currently underway.

The Council adopted a bill on the Social and Solidarity Economy.

This bill sets out the general framework for the development policy of the Social Solidarity Economy in our country.

It sets out the general principles governing the players in the Social Solidarity Economy, including cooperative societies, foundations, enterprising and responsible associations and social enterprises, which work to meet various social needs and complement the Government’s social and environmental policies.

It also defines the role of state actors and provides incentives for players in the Social Solidarity Economy, in order to promote and sustain their action.

DRAFT DECREES

The Council adopted a decree ratifying Loan Agreement n° 2000200006770 for a total amount of thirty million five hundred thousand (30,500,000) Euros, i.e. twenty billion six million six hundred and eighty-eight thousand five hundred (20,006,688,500) CFA Francs, signed on 13 February 2025, between the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, to finance the Economic Transformation and Inclusive Governance Support Programme – Phase I (PATEGI-I).

The programme focuses on improving fiscal space, fighting corruption and developing the transport and energy sectors.

This first phase of the programme will focus more specifically on boosting economic growth by strengthening financial governance and the country’s economic competitiveness.

The Council adopted two (02) decrees ratifying two (02) loan agreements:

The project aims to improve the match between training and employment, with a view to further increasing the rate of socio-professional integration of young people. It provides for the creation of viable businesses by young people to stimulate the development of Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs).

Overall, the funding covered by these two (02) decrees will support the development of employability, productivity, entrepreneurship and the creation of decent jobs for young people and women.

The Council adopted a decree declaring the 02 HA 41 A 68 CA plot of land in Williamsville, in the Commune of Adjamé, to be in the public interest for the construction of the National Printing Office.

This plot of land has been reserved since the early years of independence for the construction of new premises for the Imprimerie Nationale.

The aim of this measure is to make the space fully available for the start of construction work.

The Council adopted two (02) decrees:

All the plots of land identified in the various localities mentioned above and listed in these two (02) decrees are transferred to the State domain, with a view to ensuring the speedy development of the various housing construction programmes planned in the District of Abidjan and inland.

The Council adopted a decree declaring the right-of-way dedicated to the protection and revegetation of the embankments in the Gbebouto and Bidjante neighbourhoods in the Commune of Attécoubé to be in the public interest.

This measure is part of the implementation of the Sanitation and Urban Resilience Project. Ultimately, the project will improve resilience to flood risks and solid waste management in the Commune of Attécoubé and, more broadly, in vulnerable neighbourhoods in the District of Abidjan.

As a result, holders of customary rights, definitive title deeds to the rights of way of the various projects, tenants or their assignees will receive compensation in accordance with the regulations in force. Any transaction, any new construction, even precarious, and any type of work likely to modify the state of the soil on these sites are prohibited.

The Council adopted a decree on the creation, remit, organisation and operation of the Guichet Unique du Permis de Construire et du Contrôle Urbain, abbreviated to GUPCCU.

This decree replaces the Guichet Unique du Permis de Construire with a one-stop shop dedicated to both Building Permits and Urban Control which, in addition to examining Building Permit applications and processing applications for or withdrawing approval, is responsible for preventing and combating illegal land use and construction, with enhanced powers.

The Guichet Unique du Permis de Construire et du Contrôle Urbain is designed to ensure greater control over the development process in our towns and cities, and to put a definitive end to collapsing buildings, irregular and disharmonious construction, and overall urban disorder, which is detrimental to public action, particularly in the event of torrential rain and flooding.

The Council has adopted a decree authorising the transfer of land, located at Abidjan-Cocody Riviera II Golf, with a surface area of 1357m2, registered under number 113 611 in the Bingerville/Riviera land registry, lots n° 140-141, plot n° 12, belonging to the Banque de l’Habitat de Côte d’Ivoire, abbreviated to BHCI.

As part of the implementation of its strategic development plan, the Board of Directors of BHCI has decided to dispose of certain of the bank’s non-strategic assets, including the land covered by this decree, with a view to reinvesting the resources generated by these transactions in the bank’s core business.

In accordance with the legislation in force on companies with public financial participation, this decree reflects the Board’s agreement to the sale of the aforementioned land to the purchaser, the Office National de l’Etat Civil et de l’Identification (ONECI), for the sum of 650 million CFA francs.

The Council adopted a decree laying down the conditions for organising external dosimetric monitoring of workers directly exposed to ionising radiation.

Dosimetric monitoring is a radiation protection requirement of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which makes it possible to verify the limits on ionising radiation doses set by the regulations, in relation to the doses actually received by the exposed organism, and to deduce preventive or corrective measures, in order to guarantee the health of workers.

This decree enshrines this international requirement by making individual dosimetric monitoring compulsory for all establishments operating in France whose activities expose staff directly to ionising radiation.

It sets the tolerated ionising radiation dose thresholds according to the type of worker and the establishment’s users, and determines employers’ obligations in terms of external dosimetric monitoring, so as to protect all the professional environments concerned against all radiological risks.

B/- INDIVIDUAL MEASURES

The Board approved the renewal of the mandate of Mr Alex Pierre-Arnaud ASSANVO, as Executive Secretary of the Côte d’Ivoire-Ghana Cocoa Initiative, with residence in Accra, Ghana, for a period of four (04) years.

The Council has approved the appointment of Mr OLIVEIRA FRANCISCO JOAQUIM ENCOGE as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Angola to the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, with residence in Abidjan.

C/- COMMUNICATION

Ministry of Finance and Budget ;

The Council adopted a communication on the status of public procurement operations for the 2024 financial year.

At the end of December 2024, 5,510 contracts had been approved, compared with 5,288 for the same period in 2023, an increase of 4.2%. The value of contracts approved at the end of December 2024 was 1,403 billion CFA francs compared with 1,102 billion CFA francs at the end of December 2023, an increase of 27.3%.

Competitive procedures, including open and restricted invitations to tender, accounted for 66.2% of the value of contracts approved at the end of December 2024, compared with 61.4% at the end of December 2023, an increase of 4.8 points.

Non-competitive procedures accounted for 32.1% of the value of contracts approved at the end of December 2024, compared with 36.3% at the end of December 2023, a decrease of 4.2 points. OTC contracts accounted for 12.7% of the value of contracts approved at the end of December 2024, compared with 14.8% at the end of December 2023, a decrease of 2.1 points.

The share in value of contracts awarded to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) fell from 45.4% at the end of December 2023 to 34.9% at the end of December 2024, a drop of 10.5 points. However, in terms of numbers, SMEs were awarded 4,165 contracts compared with 3,130 in 2023. Compared with 2023, the number of SMEs holding contracts rose by 62.7%, from 1,108 to 1,803 in 2024.

D- MISCELLANEOUS

The next Council of Ministers meeting will be held on Wednesday 23 April 2025 in Abidjan.

Abidjan, Wednesday 09 April 2025
Mr Amadou COULIBALY

Minister of Communication,

Government Spokesman

porteparolat@communication.gouv.ci