The year 2020 could have broken the Ivorian industrial momentum. The Covid-19 pandemic hit African economies hard, but Côte d'Ivoire demonstrated remarkable resilience, still posting positive growth of 2% that year, before a vigorous rebound of 7.1% in 2021. This upsurge laid the foundations for an ambitious industrial decade, driven by the government's desire to make the manufacturing sector the backbone of the structural transformation of the national economy. Thus, the National Development Plan (PND) 2021-2025, adopted in this context of recovery, was the strategic framework for this rise in power. It set clear objectives, such as the balanced development of regions via industrial clusters and the improvement of business competitiveness and densification of foreign trade. In 5 years, this plan has guided every investment, every reform, every sectoral arbitration.

Figures that speak for themselves

The trajectory is clear. The added value of the industrial sector increased from 4,230.7 billion FCFA in 2015 to 9,463.6 billion FCFA in 2023, with an average annual growth of 10.6% over the period 2015-2023. Even more significant, the share of the industrial sector in national GDP increased from 15.6% in 2015 to 19.8% in 2023, then to 22.7% in 2024. An increase of 7 points in less than a decade, which reflects a profound change in the economic structure of the country. In 2025, the acceleration was further confirmed. The turnover of the industrial sector jumped by 25% at the end of June compared to the same period of 2024, driven in particular by the extractive industries (+68.3%), thanks to the extraction of hydrocarbons and metal ores. In December 2025, annual growth in industrial turnover still reached 14.7%. The secondary sector, as a whole, was expected to record growth of around 8% over the whole of 2025, driven by mining (+8.7%), petroleum products (+5.8%), energy and agri-food industries. 0, 0);">Four branches were the real locomotives of this industrial transformation. The extractive industries have benefited from the rise of the mining and hydrocarbons sector, with Côte d'Ivoire having considerable mining assets which it is beginning to better exploit. Manufacturing industries, excluding agri-food and petroleum products, saw their added value increase from 1,399.8 billion to 2,493.2 billion FCFA between 2015 and 2023, with an average annual growth of 7.5%. Agro-industry remains a historic pillar of the Ivorian economy. Massive investments have been made in the processing of oil palm, rubber, cocoa and food products. Finally, the energy sector grew by 9% in the first half of 2025, thanks to the production and distribution of electricity and gas, in turn supporting the entire industrial ecosystem. With overall economic growth projected at 6.5% in 2025 and a booming secondary sector, the country is firmly positioned among the most active African economies. The next stage (reaching 30% of industrial GDP by 2030) will be the real test of the maturity of this development model.

Note that despite these encouraging results, Ivorian industry remains faced with structural weaknesses. Manufacturing industries, although in absolute progress, are seeing their relative share in the secondary sector decline (from 25.7% to 20.6% between 2015 and 2023), a sign that growth is driven more by the extractive industry and energy than by local processing with high added value. Faced with such an observation, some experts and institutions emphasize the need to stimulate the private sector, improve infrastructure, strengthen skills and further integrate global value chains for truly inclusive industrialization.