Home Communiqués des ministres COMMUNIQUE OF THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS OF WEDNESDAY 23 APRIL 2025

COMMUNIQUE OF THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS OF WEDNESDAY 23 APRIL 2025

On Wednesday 23 April 2025, a Council of Ministers was held from 11:00 to …, 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/-Communications

D/-Miscellaneous

A/- GENERAL MEASURES

BILLS AND ORDINANCES

The Council adopted an ordinance extending the rules governing the marketing of cotton and cashew nuts and the regulation of activities in the cotton and cashew nuts sectors to activities in the shea butter sector, and the related ratification bill.

In view of the drive to optimise budget management and the identical problems faced by the Cashew and Shea nut sectors in terms of marketing and adding value to the products of these two major agricultural sectors of the rural economy, this order extends the scope of Law no. 2013-656 of 13 September 2013 laying down the rules governing the marketing of cotton and cashew nuts and regulating the activities of the cotton and cashew nut sectors to the activities of the Shea nut sector.

So, instead of a brand new public structure dedicated to the activities of the shea industry, the missions of the Conseil Coton-Anacarde, namely the regulation, monitoring and development of the activities of the cotton and cashew industries, have also been extended to the activities of the shea industry.

Consequently, this ordinance reconstitutes the deliberative body of the Conseil Coton-Anacarde, specifically the Board of Directors, so as to take into account the representatives of the shea sector interprofession.

The Council adopted an ordinance relating to the implementation of tariff dismantling applied to non-sensitive products within the framework of the Agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and the related ratification bill.

The Agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area, ratified by our country in November 2018, aims to establish a single African market for goods and services, with a view to accelerating the continent’s economic integration. Pursuant to the Agreement, this order determines the terms and conditions of tariff dismantling applicable to non-sensitive products included in the ECOWAS tariff offer.

These products, considered to have the least impact on food security, tax revenues and the overall economic security of the signatory countries, concern 5,516 lines of the ECOWAS Common External Tariff, based on the 2017 version of the World Customs Organisation’s Harmonised Commodity Description and Coding System.

For each tariff line, the order provides for a degressive tariff dismantling schedule in accordance with the AfCFTA, consisting of an annual reduction of one tenth of the initial customs duty rate in the ECOWAS Common External Tariff, until a zero customs duty rate is reached over a period of 10 years.

It should be noted, however, that these customs preferences are granted on the basis of reciprocity and do not exclude other levies payable in the customs import corridor.

DRAFT DECREES

The Council adopted a decree on the creation, remit, organisation and operation of the bodies coordinating and monitoring the implementation of the National Rural Land Tenure Security Programme 2023-2033.

This decree establishes two (02) bodies to ensure the mobilisation of funding and the implementation of the National Rural Land Tenure Security Programme (PNSFR).

A steering and strategic orientation body, the Comité interministériel de la Sécurisation Foncière Rurale, abbreviated to CISFOR, headed by the Prime Minister, Head of Government, and an implementation and monitoring body, the Comité Technique de Suivi, abbreviated to CTS, headed by the Director General of Rural Development.

The Council has adopted a decree on the creation, remit, organisation and operation of the National Rural Land Observatory.

This decree is in response to the recommendations of development partners, in particular WAEMU, regarding the establishment within each Member State of the Community of an instrument for monitoring and evaluating the formulation and implementation of land policies.

To this end, this decree establishes a cross-sectoral consultative body under the Minister of Agriculture, to be known as the Observatoire National du Foncier Rural (ONFR).

The ONFR is tasked with producing participatory knowledge on the situation and dynamics of land governance in Côte d’Ivoire and supporting the national process of reflection and dialogue on rural land issues, while facilitating consultation and the sharing of experience.

The Council adopted two (02) decrees:

These exploration licences are issued in accordance with the required technical and environmental conditions. They are valid for four (04) years.

The Council adopted a decree ratifying the Agreement on Promotion, Protection and Guarantee of Investments between the Member States of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC).

This Agreement, signed in July 2012, provides for mechanisms to protect investments against expropriation or arbitrary nationalisation and to settle disputes by conciliation or arbitration.

Ratification of the Agreement will help attract new investors from OIC member countries to our country and simplify economic and trade exchanges with OIC member countries.

The Council adopted a decree declaring as being in the public interest the parcel of land forming lot no. 1 of plot no. 1 of the Cocody Lycée Technique résidentiel nord development, which is the subject of land title 204 697 in the Cocody land register.

This parcel of land, with a surface area of 7,750m2, has been identified to house two (2) office buildings intended to accommodate the services of the National Statistics Agency (ANStat) and the National Fund for the Development of Statistics (FNDS) created as part of the reform of the National Statistical System.

The State has therefore decided to recover full ownership of the plot of land, with a view to carrying out this project of general interest.

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

B/- INDIVIDUAL MEASURES

C/- COMMUNICATIONS

The Council adopted a communication on the implementation of the Government’s Social Programme up to the end of December 2024.

At the end of December 2024, it emerged from all the PSGouv implementation activities that the programme had significantly improved the living conditions of the population through concrete and targeted actions.

In the northern border areas, 213 classrooms have been built, including 92 pre-school classrooms, along with 981,275 school kits, 897,002 textbooks and 21,800 table-benches. Access to education has also been improved with the completion of 19 local secondary schools and the creation of 60 literacy centres.

Electrification of localities has exceeded the targets set, with 1,836 localities electrified between 2022 and 2024, including 638 in 2024, bringing the coverage rate to 94.33%. Similarly, 7,802 human-powered pumps have been repaired and 618 replaced, improving access to drinking water.

The maintenance and modernisation of road infrastructure has enabled 14,609 km of roads to be resurfaced, while access to healthcare has been improved with the construction and rehabilitation of 85 health facilities and the collection of 298,134 bags of blood in 2024.

Solidarity with vulnerable populations has resulted in support for 330,000 households through social safety nets, with CFAF 42,948 billion redistributed.

For the year 2025, one of the major objectives will be to achieve 100% electrification coverage, thus guaranteeing all the country’s localities access to energy, in order to accelerate economic and social development.

The Council adopted a communication on the “Youth Card” project.

The Youth Card is a tool for promoting social inclusion and strengthening the resilience of young people. The Youth Card project aims to give young people aged 15 to 40 easier access to essential services by reducing the cost of products and services in sectors such as culture and leisure, education and training, and transport.

The aim is to distribute 200,000 cards by the end of 2025, through a gradual roll-out that will enable the scheme to be adapted and improved according to the real needs of young people, with a view to going beyond the initial, unsuccessful attempts to launch the project.

The project will be implemented in two (02) phases. A test phase, involving 5,000 young people, which will run from April to August 2025, designed to assess the technical feasibility and expectations of young people, and a gradual roll-out phase planned to begin in August 2025, with 100,000 young people and a further 100,000 young beneficiaries from October 2025.

The Youth Card will be both physical and digital, to meet the needs of young people in both urban and rural areas.

To date, the first 100,000 cards have been issued and are available. The “Carte Jeunes.CI” mobile application has also been developed and is available on online download platforms.

The cost of implementing the project is estimated at 813.5 million CFA francs.

The Council adopted a communication on the assessment of the implementation of the Government Youth Programme (PJGOUV) 2024 as at 31 December 2024 and the outlook for 2025.

During the year 2024, the initiatives undertaken within the framework of the PJGOUV 2024 enabled 1.6 million young people to be directly impacted, 123 training structures and youth infrastructures to be built or rehabilitated and 4.7 million young people to be sensitised against social evils, at a total cost of 258.5 billion CFA francs, including 89 billion CFA francs for the construction or rehabilitation of infrastructures that have been completed or are under construction.

More specifically:

For the year 2025, new initiatives and reforms have been adopted by the Government to consolidate these achievements and continue the implementation of youth development and fulfilment projects, at a total cost of 350.2 billion CFA francs, including 76.3 billion CFA francs for the construction, rehabilitation and equipping of youth infrastructures.

The Council heard a report on Côte d’Ivoire’s participation in the “Nutrition for Growth Summit” in Paris on 27 and 28 March 2025.

A high-level delegation led by the Vice-President of the Republic took part in this important meeting. The Vice-President of the Republic took this opportunity to present the nutrition initiatives undertaken by our country, both at national and continental level. The Vice-President of the Republic, while stressing the urgent need for collective and resolute action against malnutrition, highlighted the commitment of the President of the Republic, which has resulted in major initiatives such as the implementation of multisectoral nutrition plans, the creation of CERFAM, which is available to African countries, and the establishment of the Côte d’Ivoire-CERFAM Excellence Award. He also reaffirmed our country’s determination to eliminate all forms of malnutrition by 2030, notably through the implementation of its 2024-2027 Multisectoral Nutrition Plan.

On the sidelines of the summit, the Vice-President of the Republic held talks with leaders of United Nations agencies and with representatives of several development partners working in the field of nutrition, who expressed a keen interest in the Round Table for the financing of the National Nutrition Plan scheduled for 15 May 2025 in Abidjan.

D- MISCELLANEOUS

Abidjan, Wednesday 23 April 2025
Mr Amadou COULIBALY

Minister for Communication, Government Spokesman

porteparolat@communication.gouv.ci