Foreword

Volume 3 of the Multi-dimensional Review of Côte d’Ivoire is the third phase of the study, which began in September 2014. The OECD Development Centre worked closely with Côte d’Ivoire authorities during this phase. A multi-disciplinary team of experts from the Multi-dimensional Country Reviews (MDCR) Unit, as well as an infrastructure expert, worked in close partnership with the office of the Côte d’Ivoire prime minister to produce the report. The experts were actively supported by an Ivorian liaison team that helped organise the 21-30 September 2015 mission and provided access to many of the local documents and data cited in the report. A group of top Ivorian experts was also in Paris between 12 and 19 November 2015 to work with the OECD experts.

MDCRs are a new tool at the OECD Development Centre aimed at helping countries achieve inclusive growth. They identify and analyse major constraints to a country’s development and make practical policy recommendations. The reviews take a cross-sector rather than sectoral approach so as to consider the multi-dimensional nature of economic policies and their interaction. The first volume of a country review describes the economy and highlights the main obstacles to development. Volume 2 conducts an in-depth analysis of these constraints and makes policy recommendations. Volume 3 proposes concrete application of the recommendations.

Côte d’Ivoire is the first African country to have undertaken an MDCR. The first phase was done between September 2014 and March 2015 and resulted in the Multi-dimensional Review of Côte d’Ivoire– Volume 1, Initial Assessment (only available in French). It identified structural transformation and the competitiveness of the Ivorian economy, infrastructure, development funding by the financial sector and government taxes, and education and skills as the main obstacles. Policy recommendations were formulated for each of these obstacles during the second phase, from March to September 2015. These were drafted taking account of the multi-dimensional and cross-sector links that can hamper development, and of Côte d’Ivoire’s goal of becoming an “emergent economy” by 2020. The third phase presents an action plan, structured for each constraint, a scorecard for monitoring reforms, and suggestions for implementation.