NEPAD and Ivorian exports

Abstract: How come a continent with thousands of companies only export one percent of its goods on the international market? Why are African companies not even competitive on local African markets? In July 2001, African leaders came up with an ambitious programme called The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). The programme has the objective of being a kind of Marshall Plan for Africa. It deals with many topics in development areas, such as development of industries. NEPAD intends to help African industries to increase their efficiency on the international level. But Africa is a vast continent with more than 50 countries. In order to be more specific and precise, I have chosen to focus on the case of the Ivory Coast, one of the few countries that actually export relatively big quantities of goods. As all African industries, the Ivorian firms are confronted with many problems that limit their efficiency on the international market. This project identifies the major constraints and all other attitudes that hinder Ivorians firms to be more competitive internationally. The project proposes suggestions on how NEPAD can help them to increase their exports.