Overview
Côte d’Ivoire
Côte d’Ivoire is a West African country of about 33 million people on the Gulf of Guinea. Covering roughly 322,500 km², it borders Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Ghana. Its landscape features coastal lagoons and tropical forests in the south, giving way to savanna in the north. Extensive clearing for agriculture has reduced forest cover to about 8% of the land. Yamoussoukro is the political capital, while Abidjan is the largest city and economic center. Formerly a French colony, Côte d’Ivoire gained independence in 1960. The country experienced a civil war beginning in 2002 and a further political crisis following the disputed presidential election of 2010. It is now a presidential republic governed under the Constitution adopted in 2016. French is the official language, and Islam and Christianity are the main religions.
Côte d’Ivoire is a lower-middle-income country and the largest economy in the West African Economic and Monetary Union. Agriculture plays a central role, employing about 45% of the workforce. The country is the world's largest producer of cocoa and cashew nuts, while gold, rubber, and petroleum products are among its other major exports. In 2025, GDP per capita was approximately US$3,050, and real GDP grew by 6.5%.
Source: World Bank. (2026). World Development Indicators, from https://data.worldbank.org/country/cote-divoire
Institutions
Institutions with at least one Faculty Member Registered with Ivey Publishing
- ABSEC École de Commerce
- École Nationale Supérieure de Statistique et d’Économie Appliquée
- Graduate School of Management - Abidjan
- Institut National Polytechnique Félix Houphouët-Boigny
- International University of Grand Bassam
- MDE Business School
- Université Canadienne des Arts, des Sciences et du Management
- Université d’Abobo-Adjamé
- Université de Bouaké
- Université de Cocody Abidjan
- Université Française d’Abidjan
- University of Abidjan
Source: Ivey Publishing. 39C Accounts by Country. Provided by Adrianna Gleam-Fossaceca, Ivey Publishing, August 11, 2026.
Cases
Ivey-Copyrighted Cases in or involving Côte d’Ivoire
Ivey Publishing and the 39 Country Initiative welcome additional case submissions that deepen understanding of Côte d’Ivoire’s businesses, institutions, industries, and broader economic and social context.
| Case | Authors | Published / Revised | Product Number | Pages |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tony’s Chocolonely: Changing the Industry by Selling Chocolate | Patrick Shulist, Maddalena Galloni, Marleen Wierenga | Dec 12, 2024 | W39852 | 18 |
| Where Have You Been? An Exercise to Assess Your Exposure to the Rest of the World’s Peoples | Paul W. Beamish | Nov 27, 2025 | W48085 | 11 |
| Championing EDI and ESG While Using Child Labour: The Hershey Paradox | Bertrand Guillotin | Feb 12, 2024 | W34978 | 18 |
| The Hershey Company: Broken Pledge to Stop Using Child Labour | Bertrand Guillotin | Dec 20, 2021 | W25254 | 15 |
| Technologies Ecofixe: Green Wastewater Treatment for Africa | Roxanne Lavoie-Drapeau, Gwyneth Edwards | May 5, 2020 | 9B20M079 | 14 |
| DeliverMeal Ivory Coast: Addressing Headquarters’ Demands | Benoit Decreton, Phillip C. Nell, Alison E. Holm | Mar 28, 2017 | 9B17M048 | 6 |
Source: Ivey Publishing. Retrieved October 4, 2026, from https://www.iveypublishing.ca/s/
Workshops
Workshops Provided to Institutions in Côte d’Ivoire
The 39 Country Initiative’s most substantial outreach to date has centered on faculty development through in-person case-teaching workshops. The first workshop series in Côte d’Ivoire took place on October 14, 2025. Louis Hébert, Professor of Strategy at HEC Montréal and an Ivey PhD graduate (1994), led 2 in-person workshop sessions in Abidjan at
− École Nationale Supérieure de Statistique et d’Économie Appliquée (ENSEA)
− Graduate School of Management Abidjan.
Photos from the workshop series can be found at https://www.ivey.uwo.ca/39country/news/2025/10/cote-divoire-abidjan/.
The session at ENSEA was also attended by faculty from Management et Développement d’Entreprise Business School (MDE), Institut National Polytechnique Félix Houphouët-Boigny (INPHB), and Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny (UFHB). The 39 Country Initiative also supports online case-teaching activities as part of its broader outreach. Opportunities remain to extend this engagement beyond in-person workshops and reach a wider number of institutions in Côte d’Ivoire.