On 28 July 2026 in Abidjan, the African Development Bank Group (Banque africaine de développement, BAD), chaired by Sidi Ould Tah, released the 2026 Regional Economic Outlook for West Africa together with the 2026 Country Report on Côte d’Ivoire, confirming the strength of West Africa’s post‑shock recovery. According to these documents, West Africa recorded growth of 4.8% in 2025, above the continental average, and the AfDB projects an expansion of 4.6% in 2026, driven by private investment, domestic demand and the rise of extractive value chains.
The Country Report on Côte d’Ivoire underlines that the Ivorian economy is consolidating its position as the engine of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), with growth expected at 6.5% in 2025, while stressing the need to shore up fiscal buffers and continue structural reforms in the face of international uncertainty. Beyond Côte d’Ivoire, the AfDB highlights a set of indicators that point to the region’s capacity to absorb shocks while maintaining a solid pace of activity.
For West Africa, the latest mid‑term review of the AfDB’s regional integration strategy highlights progress in connectivity and intraregional trade. Intraregional trade’s share of total regional trade has risen from 17% in 2019 to 20% in 2024. This logistics momentum directly underpins the resilience narrative adopted by the AfDB in its 2026 outlook.
Une résilience soutenue par l’intégration et les infrastructures
The AfDB’s regional strategy emphasises reducing transport costs, developing intraregional trade and improving electricity access. The average cost of transporting a container has fallen from 2.43 USD/km in 2019 to 2.00 USD/km in 2024. The regional electricity access rate has risen from 35% in 2019 to 56% in 2021, with a target of 65% for 2025. These infrastructure gains provide a tangible foundation for continued growth, particularly in coastal economies with higher industrial intensity.
The region has faced a succession of shocks in recent years – health, security, climate and geopolitical. Despite these constraints, West Africa has maintained positive growth. Economic diversification is strengthening resilience in several regional economies, while multilateral development banks play a countercyclical role by mobilising financing instruments to cushion the effects of crises. In this environment, the AfDB’s validation of growth paths close to those seen before the health crisis signals to investors that fundamentals remain robust, even though disparities between countries are still pronounced.
Ce que la lecture de la BAD implique pour la Côte d’Ivoire et la région
To reach upper‑middle‑income status by 2030, the AfDB’s Country Report calls on Côte d’Ivoire to accelerate industrialisation, deepen the role of the private sector and strengthen domestic resource mobilisation in a context of tightening fiscal space. This diagnosis extends beyond Côte d’Ivoire: most UEMOA economies are dealing with higher debt‑servicing costs and more constrained access to international markets, which increases the premium on domestic revenues and spending efficiency.
The AfDB underlines the need to durably strengthen the resilience of African economies to shocks, notably by tackling structural constraints linked to economic vulnerabilities, climate risks, inequality and governance. In West Africa, the mid‑term review of the 2020–2025 Regional Integration Strategy emphasises industrialisation, development of agricultural value chains, particularly rice, and strengthening institutional resilience in fragile contexts.
La prochaine séquence : déclinaison nationale des perspectives 2026
The joint release in Abidjan on 28 July of the 2026 Regional Economic Outlook for West Africa and the 2026 Country Report on Côte d’Ivoire opens a new phase of dialogue between the AfDB, national authorities and technical and financial partners to translate these projections into investment programmes and sector reforms. In the coming months, upcoming operations and country portfolio reviews are expected to be framed by these diagnostics, with the aim of aligning financing envelopes with the sectors deemed most critical for resilience in each economy.