Home Communiqués des ministres COMMUNIQUE OF THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS OF WEDNESDAY 26 FEBRUARY 2025

COMMUNIQUE OF THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS OF WEDNESDAY 26 FEBRUARY 2025

On Wednesday 26 February 2025, a Council of Ministers was held from 11:00 to 13:00, 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

DRAFT LAW

Ministry of Animal and Fisheries Resources ;

The Council adopted a draft law regulating animal genetic improvement in Côte d’Ivoire.

The bill aims to harness developments in genetic engineering to increase the productivity and profitability of livestock farming, while ensuring the development, conservation and preservation of local animal genetic resources.

To this end, it provides for a body of standards defining the principles and environmental conditions of genetic improvement and providing a framework for the genetic manipulation or improvement of local domestic animal breeds. It also organises the players and investments in the sector, so as to considerably increase overall productivity in animal and fish proteins, and control genetic risk factors.

DRAFT DECREES

The Council adopted two (02) decrees:

These two (02) decrees implement the new law on the General Statute of the Civil Service, which takes into account changes in administrative practice and the new requirements of the Civil Service.

These decrees specify the numerous reforms introduced by the law, with a view to building a modern and efficient public administration, with professional and model staff. They set out the common rules for the management of civil servants’ careers, from recruitment to the end of their career, their rights and other professional benefits, and lay down the special rules applicable to certain jobs according to their specific features.

The Council adopted a decree setting out the terms and conditions of employment of contract staff, with the exception of higher education teachers and researchers, in the Ivorian Administration and National Public Establishments, as well as their remuneration.

The General Statute of the Civil Service provides for the possibility of recruiting non-civil servants on a contractual basis to carry out functions in the public administration, when the needs of the service so require.

This decree specifies, in application of the General Statute of the Civil Service, the conditions and procedure for the recruitment of these contractual agents, as well as the rights and obligations attached to their engagement.

The Council adopted a decree renewing the Exclusive Exploitation Licence for the “Baobab” oil and gas field in Block CI-40.

Block CI-40 is operated by a consortium led by Canadian Natural Ressources International Côte d’Ivoire SARL (CNR), on the basis of a 30-year Production Sharing Contract signed in April 1998.

This decree extends the contract for a further ten (10) years, to ensure that the operator can recoup the investments planned for the period 2025 to 2027, for the development of phase 5 of the oil field, to the tune of 1.12 billion US dollars.

The Council adopted four (04) decrees, each granting a mining exploration licence:

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 Domestic Workers Convention (N°189), adopted in June 2011.

ILO Convention No. 189, which came into force in September 2013, aims to guarantee domestic workers the conditions for decent work.

Ratification of this convention will strengthen the protection of domestic workers against exploitation throughout the country, enhance their rights, and correlatively promote social justice.

The Council adopted a decree ratifying the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire and the Government of the French Republic on the exemption of short-stay visas for holders of diplomatic passports.

Signed in January 2025, this agreement institutes a reciprocal exemption from short-stay visas for French and Ivorian nationals holding diplomatic passports valid for at least three (03) months, with a view to consolidating the ties of friendship and cooperation between the two countries.

The agreement covers in particular members of the diplomatic staff and members of their families as well as agents of other public services holding valid diplomatic passports.

The Council adopted a decree declaring the perimeter of the Bouaké logistics and industrial zone development and construction project to be in the public interest.

This decree is part of the implementation of the Government’s policy of developing logistics, industrial and commercial clusters to support socio-economic development.

The decree incorporates a 549.5-hectare plot of land near the Sakassou interchange into the State domain. This area is intended to house the Bouaké logistics and industrial zone, designed to offer optimum conditions for setting up, competing and performing for economic operators wishing to establish themselves in Bouaké.

The Council adopted a decree declaring the perimeter of the Bouaké Grand Marché urban development project (MABY Project) to be in the public interest.

This decree covers the three (03) contiguous plots of land with a total area of 31.6 hectares located between the Cathedral and the N’Douba crossroads. The site is earmarked for the construction of Bouaké’s Grand Marché, which is intended to provide the local population with a high-quality shopping area and restructure the city centre of the Gbêkè capital.

In addition, holders of customary rights, definitive title deeds to the rights of way for the various projects, tenants or their successors will receive compensation in accordance with the regulations in force. Consequently, 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 special procedure for issuing the Decree on the Allocation of State Property.

This decree sets out a simplified procedure with specific deadlines, with a view to removing the constraints that are hampering the process of securing the State’s property assets.

This new procedure is limited to the decisive stages of the process. It consists of the joint involvement of the administrative structures concerned, in order to facilitate the issuing and publication of property allocation decrees and to ensure the speedy legal security of the State’s property assets.

The Council adopted a decree approving the concession agreement for the construction, operation and maintenance of a tourist village called “SERENA VILLAGE”.

This tourist village will be built along the Boulevard de Marseille in the Commune of Marcory, over an area of approximately 16,000m2, by the Ivorian company SUBLIME COTE D’IVOIRE SERENA, which specialises in the development of tourist real estate.

The project includes the construction of a 40-room apartment hotel and a craft alley showcasing Ivorian artists and their products, as well as a marina and a promenade for family walks.

This decree approves the terms of the concession agreement and commits it to implementation in accordance with current legislation on Public-Private Partnership Contracts.

The Council adopted a decree instituting an import certificate for certain goods.

Under the terms of the conditions governing the admissibility of customs declarations, this decree introduces an import certificate for certain goods relating to branches of activity and craft trades.

This import certificate, issued by the relevant departments of the Ministry of Crafts, is required for each import operation.

However, goods originating from the West African Economic and Monetary Union and the Economic Community of West African States, as well as exempt or duty-free goods, do not require an import certificate.

B/- INDIVIDUAL MEASURES

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, African Integration and Ivorians Living Abroad;

The Council adopted six (06) decrees appointing Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire abroad.

The following are appointed

C/- COMMUNICATIONS

The Council adopted a communication on the assessment of the implementation by the end of 2024 of the activities of the Government’s Roadmap.

The Government’s Roadmap 2024 comprises 742 activities relating to major projects and 256 activities relating to the main reforms planned in various sectors.

By the end of 2024, 690 activities and 244 reforms had been effectively or partially implemented in accordance with the established timetable, giving an overall physical implementation rate of 72.48%, including 73.50% for projects and 69.40% for reforms. These achievements, which cover all the Technical Ministries, correspond to an overall expenditure commitment rate of 68%, including 67.6% for projects and 96.4% for reforms.

The Roadmap 2024 has enabled tangible progress to be made in the development of basic socio-economic infrastructure, particularly in the areas of education, health and disease control, sanitation, drinking water supply and rural electrification.

Government action in 2025 will be devoted to continuing the actions not completed in the 2024 Roadmap, with the aim of keeping Côte d’Ivoire on the path of sustained growth. In addition to the continuation of social programmes, in particular the implementation of the Government’s Social Programme and the Government’s Youth Programme, the Government’s efforts will focus on pursuing the structural transformation of the economy, the development of human capital, the promotion of employment, the preservation of the environment, the strengthening of governance, the modernisation of the State and cultural transformation.

The Council adopted a communication on the acceptance by Côte d’Ivoire of the amendments to Article1 and Article 12.1 of the Agreement establishing the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), signed in Paris on 29 May 1990, as amended in October 2006, September 2012 and September 2013.

As part of the expansion of its activities, the EBRD has decided to extend its operations to Côte d’Ivoire and a number of countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Our country also joined the agreement establishing this multilateral financial institution in November 2024.

With a view to consolidating cooperation with this institution, the Council approved the amendments to Articles1 and 12.1 of the Agreement establishing the EBRD, which enable the Bank to operate in Africa, particularly in Côte d’Ivoire.

The Council adopted a communication on the participation of Côte d’Ivoire in the 38th ordinary session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union, held on 15 and 16 February 2025 in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia).

A high-level delegation led by the Vice-President of the Republic took part in the work of this session, which was marked by the renewal of the main organs of the Organisation.

At the end of the proceedings, the Conference approved the reports of the Heads of State, Champions and Leaders designated for specific themes, including the report on the implementation of Agenda 2063, for which the President of the Republic is the Champion. The Conference also adopted the modalities for the operationalisation of the “Côte d’Ivoire CERFAM Prize for Excellence in Nutrition and Food Security” initiated by the President of the Republic, with a view to honouring active personalities, institutions, public or private bodies and non-governmental organisations that make a significant contribution to reducing malnutrition and hunger in Africa.

On the sidelines of the event, the Vice-President of the Republic held talks with several African Heads of State and high-ranking figures on the African political scene. In particular, he attended the AU Peace and Security Council meeting on Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and took part in the 34th Ordinary Session of the Forum of Heads of State and Government of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM).

At this Forum, the Vice-President presented the progress report on the implementation of Côte d’Ivoire’s national action plan, which takes stock of the progress made in the area of good governance.

The Council adopted a communication on the progress of the Abidjan District Addressing Project and the proposal for a National Address Code.

The District of Abidjan Addressing project began in 2021 with the appointment of a qualified operator to carry out the field phase of the project, which includes identifying roads, taking a census and staking out occupancy units.

To date, 14,279 roads have been identified throughout the Autonomous District of Abidjan. Of the 348,216 occupancy units planned to be surveyed, more than 295,000 have actually been surveyed, i.e. almost 85%, and around 256,000 of the occupancy units surveyed have been staked.

Following work carried out by the Centre Ivoirien de Recherche Economique et Sociale (CIRES), in collaboration with local authorities, the administrative structures concerned and civil society, the Government approved, in 2023, a directory of 7,337 names, with a view to facilitating the process of naming roads.

The names of all the streets in the communes of Port-Boüet, Koumassi, Marcory, Treichville, Plateau, Adjamé and Attécoubé-Est, as well as the communes of Bingerville, Abobo, Anyama, Songon and Attécoubé-Ouest, have been validated, with the exception of the communes of Cocody and Yopougon, whose gazetteers are in the process of being validated, for a total of 6,942 roads.

Furthermore, in anticipation of the alignment of national addressing, the Council validated a numerical address code made up of a series of 0 to 9 digits, based on the coding of our country’s geographical districts. This code takes into account the identifiers of the Département and the Commune/Sub-Prefecture.

The supply and installation of the plates for the occupancy units and the plates for the roads in the District of Abidjan are scheduled for completion in June 2026. An official ceremony to launch the installation of the plaques will take place in the coming weeks, under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister.

The Council adopted a communication relating to the adoption of the toponymic directory of streets in the Commune of Cocody.

The Council approved the street names directory for the Commune of Cocody drawn up by the Centre Ivoirien de Recherche Economique et Sociale (CIRES), in collaboration with the Commune and civil society, as part of the Abidjan District Addressing Project.

The directory includes 4,243 place names, 68% of which refer to political, traditional, religious, cultural, scientific, sporting and artistic figures, and 32% to values, concepts, historical facts and important dates in the district.

The Council adopted a communication on the organisation of a round table to mobilise resources for the National Multisectoral Nutrition Plan 2024-2027.

In June 2024, the government adopted a new National Multisectoral Nutrition Plan (PNMN) for the period 2024-2027. The strategy contained in this national policy document aims to guarantee the population, particularly the most vulnerable, an optimal nutritional status, with a view to improving their well-being and sustainably supporting the country’s inclusive growth and development.

The overall cost of implementing the PNMN is estimated at 204.6 billion CFA francs, of which 15%, i.e. 30.7 billion CFA francs, has been earmarked for the State budget.

A round table is also scheduled to take place in Abidjan on 12 May 2025 to call for contributions from technical and financial partners, local authorities, the private sector, non-governmental organisations and philanthropic foundations, with a view to mobilising additional resources estimated at 174 billion CFA francs.

The Council adopted a communication on Côte d’Ivoire’s participation in the Summit for Action on Artificial Intelligence (AI), held from 10 to 11 February 2025 in Paris, France.

A large delegation led by the Minister for Digital Transition and Digitalisation took part in this conference on the development and international governance of Artificial Intelligence.

On this occasion, the Minister for Digital Transition and Digitalisation highlighted our country’s advances in AI and underlined Côte d’Ivoire’s commitment to responsible and transparent governance of AI. He also called for stronger links between international partners, with a view to promoting knowledge sharing, technology transfer and the development of AI solutions tailored to the specific needs of emerging economies.

At the end of the Summit, Côte d’Ivoire signed the Paris Declaration on Open, Inclusive and Sustainable Artificial Intelligence for People and Planet, alongside the major current AI countries, which paves the way for several strategic prospects for our country, namely:

– strengthening AI infrastructures, by including Côte d’Ivoire in international programmes to develop high-performance computing centres, supported by the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and the World Bank;

– creating a regulatory framework for ethical and secure AI, by adapting international AI standards to Côte d’Ivoire’s specific characteristics, in partnership with UNESCO, Smart Africa and many other organisations;

– and opportunities for start-ups and young Ivorian talent, by facilitating access to investment funds and AI incubation programmes, thanks to contacts established with major players in the sector and financial partners.

D- MISCELLANEOUS

The next Council of Ministers meeting will be held on 12 March 2025 in Abidjan.

Abidjan, Wednesday 26 February 2025
Mr Amadou COULIBALY

Minister of Communication,

Government Spokesman

porteparolat@communication.gouv.ci