
PETROCI Holding, Ivory Coast's national oil operations company, is participating in the 21st ARDA WEEK in Cape Town, South Africa. This major event for the African oil industry, running from April 13 to 17, 2026, marks the 20th anniversary of the African Refiners and Distributors Association ARDA. A nine-member Ivorian delegation, led by PETROCI Holding's Deputy Director General, Karim Coulibaly, is attending to keep the public group abreast of continental oil sector developments. Discussions at the international forum focus on critical issues such as energy security, energy transition challenges, sustainability, regulatory framework evolution, digitalization acceleration, and technological innovations in the oil industry. PETROCI Holding aims to strengthen regional partnerships as Ivory Coast seeks to become a major energy hub in West Africa.
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Must ReadSenegal's President Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye has been appointed the new Chairman of the ECOWAS Conference of Heads of State and Government. He takes over from Sierra Leonean President Julius Maada Bio, whose one-year term leading the sub-regional organization concluded. President Bio officially handed over the leadership to the Senegalese head of state during a transition ceremony. On his social media, Julius Maada Bio acknowledged the transition, referring to President Faye as his "younger brother" and extending his best wishes for success in this strategic mission leading the West African community.

The 3rd edition of the Mobile Phones and Applications Exhibition STAM officially opened on Friday, July 17, 2026, at the Sofitel Abidjan H么tel Ivoire. The event, themed "Africa, a laboratory of innovation: challenges and perspectives," aims to promote African expertise in mobile technology and foster a competitive digital ecosystem. Kodioro Fofana, STAM 3 General Commissioner, stated that the exhibition seeks to highlight African know-how in mobile phone design and manufacturing, serving as a platform for smartphone manufacturers to sell their products. Organizers also intend to connect application developers, smartphone manufacturers, and startups to increase their visibility and access to investors. Arriko Bienvenue, representing Dosso Mebeti, Director General of the Information and Biotechnology Village VITIB, emphasized the Ivorian state's efforts to accelerate digital development, noting VITIB's role in leveraging digital technology for transformation. Fabiola Bernard, representing event patron Fabrice Sawegnon, discussed STAM's evolution, highlighting a shift from merely consuming technology to aspiring to design and produce it on the continent. The event included a high-level panel on "From import to manufacturing: building a sustainable value chain for components in Africa," featuring Etty Claude, Mohamed Tour茅, and Alice Ni茅, alongside various conferences on technological innovation in Africa.
Must ReadSix months after a global price collapse plunged the cocoa sector into crisis, Ivory Coast's 291 billion FCFA program to repurchase unsold cocoa stocks has officially concluded. However, many cooperatives claim they were unable to sell their beans, despite being identified in an inventory conducted by the Conseil du Caf茅-cacao between January 15 and 18, 2026. The program was initiated after international cocoa prices plummeted by over 70% at the beginning of 2026, leading multinational corporations, which typically purchase 80% of the national production, to suspend their buying. This left thousands of Ivorian farmers with unsold harvests and lost income. The government responded by activating a stabilization fund to buy back 123,000 tons of inventoried beans from nearly 1,400 cooperatives. Of this, 21,000 tons were purchased by exporters before the program officially began, leaving approximately 102,000 tons for the fund. The Organisation Interprofessionnelle Agricole du secteur caf茅-cacao OIA Caf茅-Cacao was tasked with managing the repurchase, designating authorized cooperatives, and facilitating payments through the Conseil du Caf茅-cacao. While the OIA states the program is complete, questions remain regarding why some identified cooperatives still possess unsold stock. An audit of the program's management and the 291 billion FCFA fund is deemed necessary to ensure transparency and accountability before the new cocoa season begins on September 1, 2026.