After reaching the 4.2% slope in 2018, primary sector activity is expected to record a slight increase of 2.3% in 2019, according to  the semi-annual report on the implementation of multilateral surveillance by the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), of which Financial Afrik has received a copy.

"This sector would be driven, mainly, by the 3.8% increase in food production, due to continued investment in the agricultural sector (PNIA 2, SNDR, etc.) and the revitalization of professional organizations in the food sector," the report said. However, it notes a stagnation in export agriculture "under the compensated effects of the decline in certain productions, in particular, coffee (-24.2%), cocoa (-0.6%), cashew (-4.1%) and the increase in other speculations, such as bananas (+23.4%), cotton (+13.7%) and pineapple (+11.8%)"

The pursuit of better phytosanitary treatment of plantations as well as the improvement of service routes and prices to more remunerative producers, are some recommendations proposed for better productivity of products.

With a growth rate of 7.5% in 2019 compared to 7.4% in 2018, economic activity has seen progress in general, with an average annual inflation rate of 0.6% as in 2018, the report tells us.