Côte d’Ivoire’s population is estimated at 28 million in 2021, according to the first results of the fifth General Population and Housing Census (RGPH 2021) as outlined in the country’s Voluntary National Review (2022). Côte d'Ivoire is experiencing rapid demographic changes with a predominantly young population [3]; the median age of the population is estimated at 18.9 years (in 2020) [6]. People under the age of 35 make up approximately 63.1% of the population and the population of working age in Côte d'Ivoire represents 62% of the total population. Thus, the country has a relatively large workforce of over 8 million (60.1% men and 39.9% women), according to the Voluntary National Review [3]. Côte d’Ivoire is expected to continue to experience rapid population growth and the age structure will continue to be heavily biased in favour of young dependents [6]. By 2050, the population is projected to reach over 51 million [7]. While the country’s youth represents an asset for benefiting from the demographic dividend, it also represents a risk if the strong growth observed is not inclusive and job-creating [3].

Côte d'Ivoire is one of the most urbanised countries in West Africa, with more than half of its population living in cities [8], mainly in Abidjan [9]. During the period 1998-2014, the urban population grew at an average annual growth rate of 2.6%. This increase in the urban population has caused overcrowding in certain large towns in the interior and in the district of Abidjan [5]. Greater Abidjan contains about 20% of the country’s population, 80% of its formal employment, and 90% of its formal enterprises. It is currently facing metropolitan challenges that confront other major cities around the world [6], such as access to housing [3], [5]. By 2050, it is estimated that more than two-thirds of Côte d’Ivoire’s population will live in urban centres [9].

As the world’s top exporter of cocoa and raw cashew nuts, a net exporter of oil, and with a significant manufacturing sector, Côte d’Ivoire is the largest economy in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) [10]. The lower-middle-income country [6] is experiencing one of the fastest sustained economic growth rates in Sub-Saharan Africa in nearly a decade. Between 2012 and 2019, Côte d'Ivoire recorded an average real GDP growth rate of 8.2% [10]. Additionally, due to the resilience of the Ivorian economy to external shocks, combined with the effectiveness of the country’s economic and health response plan [3], Côte d’Ivoire was able to successfully contain the COVID-19 pandemic and achieve a positive growth rate of 2% in 2020 [3], [10]. In 2021, the Ivorian economy gradually recovered, growing at a rate of 7%, well above the 2019 rate of 6.2%. However, inflation averaged 4.2%, its highest level in 10 years, compared to 0.8% in 2019 and 2.4% in 2020, largely because of higher food prices. Further, the economy could experience slower growth and accelerated inflation owing to the impacts of the conflict in Ukraine [10]. At the same time, the country is expected to benefit from investments and reforms in the Côte d’Ivoire 2030 Strategic Plan and the National Development Plan 2021–2025 (NDP), as well as from a more stable socio-political environment. Accordingly, growth should slow to 6.0% in 2022 before rebounding to 6.7% in 2023, driven by agriculture, industrial activity, buildings and public works, transport, commerce, tele-communications, as well as investment and consumption [11].

Following 25 years of rising poverty rates, the country’s sustained economic growth resulted in a decline in poverty in Côte d’Ivoire between 2011 and 2019, but incidence remains high [12]. The poverty rate declined from 55.3% in 2011, to 44.4% in 2015 and 39.4% in 2018, according to the Harmonized Survey on Household Living Conditions (EHCVM 2018-2019) [3], [12]. However, this is still much higher than other lower middle-income countries where the average poverty rate was only 12.8% in 2018 [12]. Further, the distribution of the poor by gender shows a feminization of poverty with a proportion of 51.98% for women against 49.02% for men. Poverty is also a rural phenomenon, with a poverty rate of 54.7% in rural areas against 24.7% in urban areas [3]. In addition, according to a report by UNDP, the number of households in Côte d’Ivoire that are considered “extremely poor” increased nearly four-fold as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts on the informal sector [13] and small and medium-sized enterprises. In order to mitigate the negative effects of the pandemic and revive economic activity, the Government has put in place an Economic, Social and Humanitarian Support Plan, with three funds to support large companies, SMEs and the informal sector [3].

Over the past few years, Côte d’Ivoire’s information and communications technology (ICT) sector has consistently expanded [6]. For instance, according to the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Côte d'Ivoire (ARTCI), the proportion of the population using the Internet went from 12% in 2013, to 36% and 36.5% in 2016 and 2019, respectively. The penetration rate of mobile telephones in Côte d’Ivoire increased from 109% in 2015 to 143% in 2019 to stand at 149.4% in 2020 then 162% in 2021 [3]. However, although ICT, especially the mobile sub-sector, is performing well, it has mostly benefited the affluent urban and educated population. A key challenge will be to continue the sector’s fast development, while spreading the benefits of digital technologies more widely and leveraging them to improve the productivity of society’s poorest sections to generate more, better, and inclusive jobs [6]. The country’s first National Digital Development Strategy, adopted in December 2021, aims to help accelerate the country’s digital transformation and establish Côte d’Ivoire as a regional hub for digital transformation by 2025. Further, the National Development Plan 2021–2025 (PND) will support structural digital infrastructure investment and digital inclusion programs [12].

Côte d’Ivoire continues to recover from an armed conflict that ended in 2011. Several root causes of the country’s violent conflict remain, including ethnic and regional tensions, land disputes, corruption, and impunity. While civil liberties were better protected in recent years, an outbreak of election-related violence in 2020 brought significant setbacks [14].