Ivory Coast wants urbanisation to drive job creation
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on L'Intelligent d'Abidjan
Ivorian Prime Minister Robert Beugré Mambé championed urbanisation as a driver of growth and jobs, as more than half the country’s population lives in cities. He highlighted needs in infrastructure, mobility and affordable housing at the launch in Abidjan on 29 October 2026 of a World Bank report on urbanisation in sub-Saharan Africa.
The Ivorian government wants to make urbanisation a driver of economic growth and job creation, Prime Minister Robert Beugré Mambé said in Abidjan on Thursday 29 October 2026, at the launch of a World Bank report on urbanisation in sub-Saharan Africa. More than half of Ivory Coast’s population now lives in cities, he recalled.
The World Bank expects sub-Saharan Africa to have an additional 748 million urban residents over the next 25 years, while the economic benefits of this urban growth remain below expectations. Beugré Mambé called for investment in infrastructure, housing and mobility, citing the Y4 bypass, Abidjan’s fourth bridge, the Bus Rapid Transit system and the metro. Studies are also assessing the feasibility of cable-car lines, subject to their viability and affordable fares.
For housing, the government is relying on rent-to-own schemes, supervised self-building on serviced land and affordable social housing, with these schemes to be gradually extended to the main cities. The prime minister also called for greater mobilisation of domestic resources, better-funded local authorities and greater private-sector participation.
The Minister for Urban Planning, Housing and Living Environment, Moussa Sanogo, said Ivory Coast’s real GDP had grown by an average of nearly 7% a year since 2012. The urban population had risen from around 32% in 1975 to nearly 55% today. He called for better planning of urban expansion, secure land tenure and increased housing supply, particularly through master plans for Greater Abidjan and Greater Yamoussoukro.
The initiative comes after Ivorian Vice-President Tiémoko Meyliet Koné met businesses on 29 October to discuss youth employment. Closer ties between the state and businesses to create jobs for young people are another strand of Ivory Coast’s economic policy.
