Abidjan remains the beating heart of the productive system, with 4 large industrial zones which concentrate most of the businesses. There we find Koumassi, Vridi, the Yopougon zone and especially the new Akoupé-Zeudji PK24 zone, now a showcase of Ivorian industrial policy. Koumassi and Vridi, each of approximately 120 hectares, embody the first generation of industrial zones, created in the immediate vicinity of the port and popular neighborhoods to serve an economy focused on import-export and traditional agro-industry. Yopougon, with nearly 469 hectares, has established itself as an industrial giant, welcoming around 400 companies after a rehabilitation costing 25 billion CFA francs, a sign of the desire to prolong the life of these historic areas rather than abandon them.

PK24, new industrial showcase

North of Abidjan, the Akoupé-Zeudji PK24 area changes scale. It extends over nearly 1,000 hectares according to official sources, and is intended to be both an industrial zone and an integrated economic platform. It concentrates industrial spaces, logistics platform, administrative and socio-economic equipment, on-call housing, training centers, green spaces and ecological belt, in accordance with international standards put forward by the government. PK24 is presented as a pivot in the structural transformation of the economy, with a strong focus on the strategic clusters of the PND 2021-2025 (agro-industry, chemicals-plastics, construction materials, pharmacy, textiles, packaging and spare parts). According to academic work, the area should generate several thousand direct industrial jobs and accelerate the transformation of peri-urban rural landscapes. One of the major turning points in Ivorian industrial mapping is the gradual spread of industrial zones beyond Abidjan. Two “pioneer” areas have long been exceptions. These are those of Bonoua (around 334 hectares) and Bouaké (around 1650 hectares), both positioned on strategic road corridors and in the heart of major agricultural basins. Since 2017, the State has initiated a vast program to create industrial zones in regional capitals, with significant areas in Yamoussoukro (around 250 hectares already under development and 550 additional hectares to be acquired), San Pedro (around 540 hectares). We note the industrial zones of Bondoukou, Korhogo, Odienné and Séguéla. By 2030, new sites are announced in Mankono, Daloa, Abengourou, M'Bengué and other towns, drawing an industrial map which increasingly follows the national geography rather than being limited to the southern coast. rebalancing industrial development towards the interior. The government is promoting “modern” zones to reassure investors, reduce the time it takes to access serviced land and bring factories closer to agricultural raw materials. At the same time, a national program to identify economic operators and monograph industrial spaces is underway, in order to better regularize the sector and offer a finer vision of the actual occupation of industrial land.