Côte d’Ivoire’s previous national development plan, 2016-2020, contributed to an average economic growth of 5.9%. The state wants to do better with the new. It is determined to tap more into the potential of digital by consolidating services and infrastructure.
The Minister of Communication and the Digital Economy, Amadou Coulibaly, announces the construction of a data center and the development of the national fiber optic network to 7,000 km by 2025. These investments which will add to others planned as part of the implementation of the national digital development strategy, and will contribute to supporting national economic development.
The Minister unveiled these projects on Wednesday, June 15, in Abidjan during an exchange he moderated during the meeting to present the financing of the National Development Plan (PND) 2021-2025 by the advisory group responsible for its development. Amadou Coulibaly said that the data center and the fiber optic network are the priorities of his department, as they form the bedrock of the digital transformation that the country wants to accelerate.
The data center will make it possible to bring together in a single secure place all the public services, which the government is currently dematerializing, and will guarantee their efficiency. The fiber optic network will allow the government to bring high-speed Internet, essential for access to dematerialized services and socio-economic opportunities, to all homes while reducing the cost.
The government of Côte d’Ivoire adopted the national digital development strategy by 2025 , during the Council of Ministers on December 22, 2021. It is built on seven pillars, which are: digital infrastructure; digital services, digital financial services; digital skills; the business environment in the digital economy sector; innovation, cybersecurity; and digital trust.
According to the World Bank, the digital economy could bring Côte d’Ivoire more than $5.5 billion by 2025, more than $20 billion by 2050, if the public authorities and the private sector strengthen the investments in the five fundamental pillars of digital which are infrastructure, platforms, financial services, entrepreneurship, and skills , recalls We Are Tech .