CÔTE D’ IVOIRE
Côte d’ Ivoire: Tech hub on the rise
Following years of political turmoil, Côte d’ Ivoire is growing quickly and attracting investment. Now, the government is trying to position the country as west Africa’ s technology and start-up hub.
THE NUMBER OF INTERNET SUBSCRIPTIONS HAS INCREASED 40 TIMES BETWEEN 2011 AND 2015 FROM 200,000 TO 8 MILLION.
In July the government, in partnership with the African Development Bank( AfDB), announced the creation of the Ivorian Innovation Fund( FII). The € 200m($ 223m) project will be devoted to infrastructure and finance support for start-up businesses, particularly in the technology sector.
The government plans to use the fund to develop business partnerships and training opportunities among the member countries of the West African Economic and Monetary Union( UEMOA). The money will go some way to addressing the problems facing technology start-ups in Abidjan, Côte d’ Ivoire’ s capital, including the lack of technical skills and financing. Additionally it could be positive for west African regional integration, prompting the bloc to pull together to develop technological capabilities.
The fund is the most recent initiative designed to enhance the tech and start-up environment in Côte d’ Ivoire. In April 2015 the government announced a seven year, € 152m euro project to lay thousands of kilometres of fibre optic cables and establish of cyber centres in rural areas. In October 2015, Abidjan hosted the 11th edition of the Africa Telecom People exhibition, where key stakeholders gathered to discuss the future of e-commerce in Africa.
2016 | Business Times Africa 25