The Ivorian government has engaged in active dialogue with its external partners.  As a result of efforts at  implementing the public finance recovery programme and strategic reforms, Côte d’Ivoire has gradually been able to renew its ties with the International Financial Community which has given its support to the policy designed by the government. 

Development Policy

The surge in assistance has enabled the Ivorian government to prepare a programme that will allow the country's economy to emerge from recession. It will also enable the government to start implementing its interim poverty reduction strategy.  Dialogue between the Bank and Ivorian authorities has made significant progress. Tangible outcomes of the dialogue include government efforts to clear a significant portion of its arrears. In this regard, the government has made a commitment to honour all its financial obligations to the Bank.

The country's rural sector plays a key role in efforts at reducing poverty. Because of its importance, the  sector remains the strategic thrust to reach the highest number of poor people. It is therefore essential to increase producers’ incomes and reduce local disparities and rural poverty by strengthening competitiveness and the productivity of activities in rural areas through food self-sufficiency and security, and by regenerating the forests. Aware of the previous poverty reduction programmes' limitations, the government wishes to address the marginalization of the poor regarding access to basic social services. It therefore intends to implement the following actions:

• gradually expand free schooling which will, however, be compulsory;
• consider the possibility of introducing medical insurance for all to provide universal access to health care, especially for the poor; and
• mainstream gender and environmental dimensions in development programmes.  In order to increase the involvement of the population and strengthen the participatory approach in poverty reduction programmes, decentralization, on the basis of the principles of subsidiarity and complementarity, is at the core of the Government’s strategy.

With regard to good governance, in order to improve transparency in the management of public affairs, eradicate corruption, poor management and strengthen the rule of law, the government has prepared a strategy comprising several points, in particular:

• education, dissuasion, control and a system of sanctions and rewards
• consolidation of institutional and economic reforms
• strengthening the justice system and improving the security of goods and persons
• reform of the Administration
• combating corruption and illicit enrichment
• strengthening civil society and the press to enable them to play their roles as privileged actors of good governance.

Bank Strategy Group

The Bank Group’s strategy is focused on the following:

• agricultural sector
• support to reform
• cross-cutting governance–related actions

The Bank Group’s operations aim, on the one hand, at building the management capacities of village communities, local authorities, professional organizations in the agricultural sector and producers as well as professionalizing these institutions and, on the other hand, to improve agricultural systems with a view to preventing agro-ecological and socio-economic imbalances.  The Lacs Region Rural Development Support Project and the Moyen Comoe Region Rural Development Project were designed and formulated against this backdrop. In the case of the latter, the focus will be on putting in place constituent elements for the creation of an enabling environment for rural private sector development: infrastructure, supervision, strengthening of APOs and training. In this respect, particular attention will be paid to the management and regeneration of coffee and cocoa plantations and food crop development.