Côte d’Ivoire is a leading producer of gold, manganese and oil and gas, as well as other mineral resources. The extractive sector is secondary to the agriculture sector, contributing about 13.5% in total export values and 4% to government revenues in 2019.
However, gold production has risen significantly over the past decade. Several recent oil and gas discoveries has also led the government to undertake reforms to increase investment in these nascent industries. A recent discovery by energy company ENI could increase daily production by more than 100,000 barrels of crude oil and quadruple revenues from the sector.
Côte d’Ivoire has used the EITI process to strengthen transparency of state-owned enterprises and monitor the disbursement of subnational payments for the development of local mining communities. The EITI can also help inform decision-making in the government’s efforts to formalise the artisanal and small-scale mining sector and curb illegal mining.
ITIE Côte d’Ivoire helped inform the development of a new Mining Code in 2014, which aimed to diversify the country’s economy following the 2010-2011 Ivorian crisis. The new code introduced changes in mining regulations, including on the conditions of licenses and local content.
ITIE Côte d’Ivoire is supporting the development of national legislation on beneficial ownership disclosure.
Coming together is a start, staying together is progress, working together is success. We can only act effectively by working together and the EITI gives us this opportunity with its framework for multi-stakeholder dialogue. Every actor and stakeholder should therefore take ownership of the EITI. It is up to everyone to get involved in their own sphere of activity, according to their responsibility, to contribute to the effective implementation of the EITI in Côte d'Ivoire, by ensuring that our EITI work plan is in line with national priorities for greater impact.
Kocounseu Antoine MimbaMSG Chair
Extractive sector data
Production and exports
Revenue collection
Revenue distribution
Top paying companies
Extractive sector management
Tax and legal framework
Côte d’Ivoire’s extractive sector is mainly governed by the Petroleum Code and Mining Code, which determines the rights of subsoil use, how to obtain them, and rights and obligations of the engaged parties and government authorities.
The three main taxes and fees imposed on companies operating in the mining sector include royalties, salary withholding tax and industrial and commercial profits tax. In the petroleum sector the three are the state’s share of profit oil, state-owned PETROCI’s share of profit and cost oil, and signature bonuses.
The Tax Department is the main body responsible for collecting taxes paid to the central government, while PETROCI collects the state’s share of in-kind revenue. The Treasury Department is the main entity responsible for managing the allocation of these revenues. Municipal governments are responsible for levying and collecting municipal taxes and social expenditures.
Licenses and contracts
Mining licenses are awarded on a first come first served basis by the Council of Ministers on the recommendation of the Ministry of Mines and Energy. Mining licences are awarded as permits (e.g. research permits, production/exploitation permits) and authorisations (e.g. prospection, semi-industrial production, artisanal and quarrying authorisations). The mining cadastre is accessible online, as well as consultable via the Official Gazette.
Petroleum licenses are awarded either on a discretionary basis or through competitive tender by the Council of Ministers on the recommendation of the Ministry in charge of hydrocarbons. These licence awards are ratified by presidential decree.
Oil and gas contracts are awarded as production sharing contracts (PSCs) or concessions.
The government does not currently publish contracts online. However, energy company TotalEnergies has disclosed three EPC (Engineer, Procure, & Construct) contracts, which are republished on the national EITI website. The register for the petroleum is not accessible online but is consultable via the Official Gazette.
Beneficial ownership
Côte d’Ivoire does not have a legal framework mandating the disclosure of beneficial ownership. However, beneficial ownership data for extractive companies within the scope of materiality are published in EITI Reports. The definition for beneficial ownership used in EITI reporting is based on the Fourth European Union Anti-Money Laundering Directive.
With the aid of the GIZ, the government aims to develop legislation on beneficial ownership disclosures for all sectors by December 2022.
Extractive revenues are deposited to the Treasury's single account, with the exception of payments that flow to the Local Mining Development Fund. Mining companies operating in local communities are required to pay 0.5% of their turnover to the fund, which aims to finance community development projects in mining regions. The fund was created in compliance with the 2014 Mining Code (Article 125) and is managed by Local Mining Development Committee. There are currently nine local mining development communities in operation in Côte d’Ivoire, and the revenues that accrue to the fund are disbursed to these nine regions.
EITI implementation
Governance
ITIE Côte d’Ivoire (CN-ITIE) is administered by the Côte d’Ivoire Multi-Stakeholder Group (MSG). The MSG is hosted by four line ministries and is chaired by M. Antoine Mimba, Technical Advisor to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. It is comprised of representatives from government, industry and civil society.
Côte d’Ivoire was found to have made meaningful progress with considerable improvements in implementing the 2016 EITI Standard in April 2020, following its second Validation. Côte d’Ivoire fully addressed three of the 12 corrective actions identified in its previous Validation.