Côte dIvoire President Alassane Ouattara has arrived in South Africa, where he was received by Department of International Relations and Cooperation Minister Dr. Naledi Pandor Wednesday evening.
The Côte dIvoire leader is in SA at the invitation of his counterpart President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Ouattaras reciprocal visit to South Africa follows Ramaphosas state visit to Côte dIvoire in December 2021.
The Presidents are expected to hold bilateral discussions, witness the signing of several agreements, and address a South Africa – Côte dIvoire Business Forum.
South Africa and Cote dIvoire enjoy close political, economic, social, and cultural ties.
Bilateral relations between the two countries are managed through the Joint Commission of Cooperation (JCC), established in December 2015, as a structured bilateral mechanism to facilitate political, economic, social, cultural, scientific and technical cooperation between the two countries.
Since the establishment of the JCC nine Memoranda of Understanding and Agreements have been signed between the two countries in sectors such as Agriculture, Mining, Transport, Telecommunications and Defence.
During the State Visit the two countries aim to sign additional agreements to further strengthen bilateral relations.
The bilateral trade between South Africa and Côte dIvoire remains on an upward trajectory.
“Despite the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, total trade between the two countries increased from R1,3 billion in 2019 to R2.0 billion in 2021. This represented an increase of about R774 million of total trade between the two countries,” the SA Presidency said ahead of the visit.
The portfolio of South Africas investments in Cote dIvoire is also increasing rapidly.
South African companies invested in Côte dIvoire include MTN, Standard bank, Multichoice, Sanlam, Investec, RMB and the Development Bank of Southern Africa.
