The international financial rating agency, Standard & Poor's, announced the improvement of the credit rating of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, from BB- (with a positive outlook) to BB, said the Ministry of Finance and Budget on Friday 18 October.

Ivory Coast reinforces its position as the second best credit in sub-Saharan Africa, behind Botswana (rated BBB+, stable outlook), and joins the same rating category of countries like Brazil.

This decision, which materializes the positive outlook granted just 5 months ago, in May 2024, reflects Standard & Poor's assessment of the excellent progress made by Côte d'Ivoire in recent years on the economic and budgetary levels, and the agency's very strong confidence in the prospects for growth and deficit reduction in the short- and medium-term

In particular, Standard & Poor's welcomed several key factors in its decision:

The resilience of the Ivorian economy despite successive external shocks, with an average growth of 5.6% during the period 2019-2024, and marked by growing diversification, especially in the agri-food and oil sectors. This strong growth is expected to continue over the coming years, driven in particular by the increase in hydrocarbon production made possible by the exploitation of the Whale deposit since August 2023 and the recent discovery of the Calao