The Republic of Côte d’Ivoire is a signatory to or a member of the following organizations:
- African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). The AFCFTA, which covers 24 countries, including Côte d’Ivoire, went into effect on May 30, 2019. The first day of intra-African free trade was January 1, 2021.
The AfCFTA’s overarching goal is to eliminate or reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers among the 54 countries that agreed to join the bloc by creating a single market for goods and services, facilitated by the free movement of people, to further the continent’s economic integration and prosperity. This important goal will be accomplished in stages through repeated rounds of negotiations.
The Agreement also aims to lay the groundwork for the creation of a Continental Customs Union; (ii) promote and achieve sustainable and inclusive socio-economic development, gender equality, and structural transformation of the State Parties; (iii) improve the competitiveness of the economies of State Parties within the continent and global market; (iv) promote industrial development through diversification and regional value chain development, and (v) promote industrial development through diversification and regional value chain development.
- The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), consists of 15 West African countries.
- West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), which comprises Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo. Côte d’Ivoire has agreed to coordinate its economic, financial, and structural policies with the majority of francophone countries in the region under the WAEMU pact.
- Organisation pour l’Harmonization en Afrique du Droit des Affaires (OHADA), is an organization that harmonizes a wide range of African legal systems that were formerly marked by significant disparities in business law, codes, rules, regulations, and local norms impacting commerce. The agreement establishes some uniform acts and when appropriate, organizations to carry them out.
- The African Growth and Opportunity Act of the United States allows Côte d’Ivoire to export a wide number of items to the United States without paying tariffs. AGOA will be phased out around 2025.
The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) has been at the heart of US economic policy and commercial engagement with Africa since its passage in 2000. In addition to the more than 5,000 products eligible for duty-free access under the Generalized System of a Preferences program, AGOA grants qualified Sub-Saharan African countries duty-free access to the US market for over 1,800 products.
Countries must build or make continuous progress toward establishing a market-based economy, the rule of law, political pluralism, and the right to due process to meet AGOA’s stringent eligibility standards. In addition, countries must remove trade and investment barriers with the United States, as well as implement policies to relieve poverty, combat corruption, and promote human rights.
AGOA has aided economic growth, supported economic and political reform, and boosted US-regional economic connections by opening up new market opportunities.
- In 2016, Côte d’Ivoire accepted the European Union’s Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).
Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) are agreements between the European Union and the African, Caribbean, and Pacific Group of States to establish a free trade zone (FTA) (ACP). They are in reaction to ongoing allegations that the EU’s non-reciprocal and discriminatory preferential trade deals violate WTO standards.
- In 2020, Côte d’Ivoire and the United Kingdom signed an EPA.
