The population as of 2017 was 24.18 million people; The population fluctuates drastically due to high mortality rates for diseases such as AIDS, malaria, and yellow fever. As a plus, this can aid the business as people would look for alternatives and effective protection against insects. Furthermore, the population growth is steady at around 3.5 children born per woman, and contraceptive use is under 20%. A growing population ensures steady consumers. Much of the population also consists of migrants from neighboring countries such as Burkina Faso, as it is widely known as an attractive location. Furthermore, since almost 60% of the populace is younger than 25, they serve as effective consumers as they are more likely to purchase such products and pay closer attention to health concerns for future generations. However, it is not a guaranteed market since as of 2015, only 53% of men and 33% of women were literate, and more than likely uneducated and unaware of the severe effects of sun damage or contagious diseases. French is the official language, and many in-store products are labeled in French, but a popular spoken language is Dioula.
Culturally, 42.9% of the population is Muslim, closely contributing to gender roles in society. Women conform to more traditional roles and instead of getting a proper education and working, they tend to stay home and take care of children. However, this does not affect the sale of the product as it is still highly useful for both men and women to use the pills to avoid disease and complications.
National Income Level
The Gross Domestic Product in Ivory Coast was worth 19.219 billion West African CFA Francs (36.16 billion USD) in 2016. The GDP value of Ivory Coast represents 0.06 percent of the world economy. This proves the economy to be stable and flourishing, and open to business. The IMF even predicts the country's GDP will increase by an average of 7.4 percent between 2017 and 2020. GDP per capita was additionally 2,072,850 West African CFA Francs (3,000 USD) in 2016. However, much of the population (46.3%) falls under the poverty line, so it is important to price the products for my business so most of the population can afford it and has access to it. For the last five years Cote d'Ivoire's growth rate has been among the highest in the world.
Economic trends
As of 2017 inflation rate is estimated to 1.0%. This will benefit the business as lower inflation rates can help the Ivorians able to afford products cheaply and become effective consumers. In 2016, real GDP for Côte d'Ivoire was 17,291,963 million lcu, and has been growing at a steady rate of 3.48% ever since.
Currency
The currency is valued at 531.50 West African CFA Francs per US dollar. Like most African countries, Cote d’Ivoire pegs their exchange rate. Hard pegs (exchange arrangement with no separate legal tender and currency board arrangements) are prevalent due to the CFA-franc zone. The history of the currency over the past three years is a gradual decline. The USD to XOF conversion is predicted to continue at a steady decline for the next three years as well.
Political Risk
The current president is Alassane Ouattara, who serves as both head of state and head of government and of a multi-party system of the democratic republic government of Cote d’Ivoire. Recently, the Ivory Coast has been experiencing a lot of political instability, and that could significantly affect businesses such as mine. Though the country has one of the fastest growing economies, turmoil with the army and government is prevalent. The country has had two army revolts in less than three years, and there are many predictions that the that instability could return for the 2020 election. That could serve as a large risk for upcoming businesses. However, the government has displayed openness and understands that an annual growth rate of over 8 percent cannot be sustained without such businesses. They are even very keen of foreign investors and passes a series of reforms during a reconstruction plan to help such relations grow.
Trade and Investment
Some direct and indirect trade barriers include the countries relatively small market size, and French and European domination of the market. Additionally, since local and big businesses primarily use the French language in communication, they may be limited to packaging and branding of the official language. The country has even been known to favor credit terms by European suppliers to local importers. Key trading partners would include Nigerian, French, and Chinese companies as they attribute to 41% of the countries imports, and their involvement could help fund the exporting of goods to a large market. It would also benefit to join some regional economic organizations such as the Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CENSAD) in which would directly aid in keeping the company afloat and sustained by helping regulating profits. Additionally, The Centre de Promotion des Investissements en Côte d’Ivoire (CEPICI) would help with investments and development of the company by way of coordinating government initiatives.
Legal/Regulatory Issues
Foreign firms are able to operate in the Ivory Coast with direct aid from the government. For example, The investment code 8.1 Tax was revised in 2012 to attract national and foreign investment through tax and tariff exemptions. Foreign companies are free to invest and list their names on the regional stock exchange (BRVM), which is based in Abidjan. Additionally, the Value Added Tax (VAT) has a base rate of 18%. However this is reduced by as much as 11% for basic food products, medical, medical and pharmaceutical services, banking and insurance operations, some international trade operations, fertilisers, phytosanitary products, feed for livestock and farmyard animals. Products made from durum wheat, milk and on equipment for the production of solar energy is also reduced 9%. My business would fall under this reduced tax umbrella, which would significantly help the company grow and keep sustained. The Ivory Coast has treaties with Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Morocco, Norway, Portugal, Switzerland, Tunisia and the United Kingdom, which would allow for an extensive market. Incentive would be trade for the products grown in the Ivory Coast, as they are among the world's largest producers and exporters of coffee, cocoa beans, and palm oil. Corruption in many forms is deeply ingrained in many sectors and practices and remains a serious impediment to investment and economic growth in Côte d’Ivoire. However, the government has taken steps to fight against corruption and improve transparency through the creation of the 2013 of the High Authority of Good Governance and the institution of a requirement that all public officials submit asset declarations.
Many institutions are in place such as The U.S. Chamber and local American Chambers of Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) that understands the importance of working together with trade organizations to support efforts to protect properties, IP, and even stop counterfeiting.
The ease of business in Cote d’Ivoire is apparent as starting a business has a increase in Distance To Frontier of 2% as of March 2018, which ranks and represents the best performance observed on each of the indicators across all economies:
Labor Situation
Many employee protection laws came in effect in 2017 such as The Constitution and the Labor Code, which grants all citizens the right to form or join unions and bargain collectively and workers exercise their rights.The Ivory Coast has an unemployment rate of 9.31% as of 2016. Unemployment is so high because there is a lack of sufficient employment opportunities, and the general population considers unemployment to be a critical issue. Growing businesses such as mine can indirectly help combat this issue. Evidently, the ease of firing is not as easy as the ease of hiring is.