On an official visit to Abidjan on Thursday 31 March, the European Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen, kicked off concrete projects to be funded by the EU this year in Côte d’Ivoire, the second stop on the Commissioner’s trip to West Africa after Niger.
Her talks with President Alassane Ouattara focused on the main lines of cooperation with Côte d’Ivoire, “an important strategic partner for the EU in many areas, including trade, investment, security and stability in the region, but also at the multilateral level”, the commissioner stressed.
In a video message posted on her Twitter account, she thanked the President for Côte d’Ivoire’s vote of support for the UN General Assembly resolution on the war in Ukraine.
At her side, Mr Ouattara welcomed the “excellent collaboration to address the challenges of youth inclusion and sustainable cocoa”.
Together with the Prime Minister, Patrick Achi, Ms Urpilainen signed five financing agreements for a total amount of €58 million in 2022.
Support for the transformation of Ivorian cocoa production towards environmental, economic and social sustainability will therefore benefit from €18.75 million.
€15 million will support skills development for better access to the Ivorian labour market.
€10 million will be invested in strengthening Côte d’Ivoire’s security capacities.
Support for cooperation and partnership between the EU and Côte d’Ivoire will be funded to the tune of €8.2 million.
€6 million will finance the support and renewal of Côte d’Ivoire’s climate commitments. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)