Côte d’Ivoire has joined the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), becoming its 76th shareholder. In August 2023 Côte d’Ivoire submitted a request to join the EBRD, and the Board of Governors approved its membership in October of that year.
At the Bank’s 2023 Annual Meeting in Samarkand, the Board of Governors approved an amendment to the Agreement Establishing the EBRD to enable the limited and incremental expansion of its operations to sub-Saharan Africa and Iraq.
Once the amendment is in force, which requires formal acceptance by a qualified majority of the EBRD’s shareholders, the Bank will be able to take forward the request of Côte d’Ivoire to become a country of operation. As a recipient country, Côte d’Ivoire would benefit from the EBRD’s finance and policy support.
EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso said: “I am very happy to welcome Côte d’Ivoire as a shareholder of the Bank. Our objective is to launch our activities in sub-Saharan African countries in 2025 and we are looking forward to applying our expertise in supporting economic growth through private-sector development and policy dialogue.”
Adama Coulibaly, Côte d’Ivoire’s Finance and Budget Minister, said: “Côte d’Ivoire’s accession to membership of the EBRD is a real opportunity for the country; it now has a new strategic partner with whom it can mobilise financing to implement the country’s development policy. Côte d’Ivoire intends to work with the EBRD to finance structural projects and tackle global challenges such as climate change. The EBRD will also be a financing catalyst for the country’s private sector, which the government has placed at the heart of its development policy.”
The EBRD now has 74 national shareholders in addition to the European Union and the European Investment Bank.
The EBRD supports economies in transition, using a combination of investment, advisory work and policy reform. It focuses on developing the private sector and bringing sustainable change, leaving an enduring legacy for a better future. The Bank is currently focusing its efforts on supporting Ukraine, while helping all EBRD economies to become greener, more inclusive and more digital.
