Côte d'Ivoire

Côte d'Ivoire enters the 2026 cycle as the largest economy in Francophone sub-Saharan Africa and one of the continent's most durable growth stories, with real GDP growth around 6.3% in 2025 driven by hydrocarbons, mining, agro-processing and services. Macro stewardship is strong: under its IMF programme Abidjan met all mid-2025 targets, holds to the WAEMU 3%-of-GDP deficit ceiling, and runs inflation near 1%. FDI hit a record $3.80bn in 2024.

The distinctiveness is structural. Abidjan is the de facto financial capital of the eight-country WAEMU bloc — home to the BRVM regional exchange, which hit a record ~$21.2bn capitalisation in October 2025. The country is the world's dominant cocoa producer and is climbing into processing, while Eni's net-zero Baleine field and the Abidjan and San Pedro ports anchor an energy and trade-gateway thesis for the landlocked Sahel.

The defining risk is political. President Ouattara won a contested fourth term in October 2025 after the courts barred his main challengers; no Ivorian presidential election since 1995 has produced a peaceful transfer of power. Layered on top is corridor friction with the AES juntas (Burkina Faso, Mali) that exited ECOWAS in January 2025.