With West Africa gearing up for critical elections, the Ivory Coast positions itself as one of the focus areas in West Africa’s political and financial interactivity.
The Ivory Coast is the third most populous country in West Africa with a population over 31 million, and one of the few nations to boast uninterrupted economic growth since 2011, while 2012-2023 saw the Ivory Coast grow at an average of 7% per annum. The Ivory Coast’s stability and economic well-being have caught the attention of both regional and global sectors over this election cycle.
Political On the Brink of Violence
Ivory Coast is currently undergoing a period of increasingly heated political tensions as it prepares for general elections to be held in October 2025, when tensions among political players are currently running high and just last week rumors of a coup and prohibiting opposition candidates captured our attention.
And as the scars of 2010-2011 violence fester in political discourse, Côte d’Ivoire has been a recipient of networked regional insurgency from the Sahel region, a process that has extended from the Sahel into member states bordering the Atlantic Coast, including Côte d’Ivoire. Hence, while government authorities are trying to calm the underlying conditions of violence by coopting and co-opting youth leaders who possess individual agency, the threat of security collapse is very real.
Economic Context: Cost of Living and Key Sectors
Ivory Coast continues to be the world largest exporter of cocoa beans, and cocoa is the backbone of the country’s economy. Nevertheless, analysts are estimating a 10% decline in output, chiefly in 2025/26 better season, attributing said decrements to adverse weather, disease, and aging plantations. The effect of these declining conditions will not only impact local livelihoods, which use cocoa in their daily activities, but will ripple through the global chocolate market.
Cost of Living
- With the second-highest GDP per capita in West Africa behind Cape Verde, the Ivory Coast’s population is nevertheless still almost half affected by multidimensional poverty.
- There is still an increased cost of living in large cities. The cost of food and cost of living is increasing much faster when compared with wage growth.
Commodity Prices
- Cocoa: Production is projected to decline to under 1.6 million tons in 2025/26, down from over 2 million tons five years ago. This is leading to global price fluctuations and has led the Ivorian government to investigate ways to mitigate the impacts, such as export strategies and working with their largest buyers.
- Other goods: There have also been retail price increases on staple goods such as guava and dates. In terms of retail prices ‘guava’ was retailing in 2025 between $4.36 and $5.81 per kilogram and ‘dates’ was between $2.92 and $4.87 per kilogram.
The Ivory Trade and It Effects
Although the legal international trade in ivory is banned, the illegal black market continues, and poaching remains an imminent threat to elephant populations across Africa. Involved in the illegal ivory trade in Ivory Coast, poachers are not only killing wildlife but also damaging tourism and the economy as a whole.
Some studies suggest that Africa loses roughly $25 million a year in tourism revenue to elephant poaching, and Ivory Coast is one of the nation’s losing that revenue. Conservation and enforcement issues are potentially the largest issues still on the agenda in election and policy discussions.
Ivory Coast is now facing the potential of the 2025 West African operations, posed by its political tentions, economic resilience, and change in commodity processes, wildlife conservation and the economic opportunities it offers. As voters prepare to head to the polls, the triad of governance (whatever governance or national security means), environmental conservation and economic opportunity will be at the heart of ensuing discussions over the nation’s and the region’s future.
