South-South Cooperation: Côte d’Ivoire Draws Inspiration from Algerian Model to Build Its Extractive and Energy Industries

On an official visit to Algeria starting Saturday, March 28, 2026, to study the country’s energy development model, Côte d’Ivoire’s Minister of Mines, Petroleum, and Energy, Mamadou Sangafowa-Coulibaly, laid the groundwork for a strategic partnership in the extractive and energy sectors.

In hydrocarbons and mining, Mamadou Sangafowa-Coulibaly signed a cooperation agreement with Algeria’s Minister of State in charge of Hydrocarbons and Mines, Mohamed Arkab.

Under this agreement, Algeria shares its integrated expertise—from upstream oil operations to petrochemicals—and expressed its willingness to support Côte d’Ivoire, particularly in exploration, refining, training, and regulatory framework development. In turn, Côte d’Ivoire affirmed its commitment to rely on “solid, reliable, and experienced partners” to accelerate the transformation of its energy sector.

For Minister Sangafowa-Coulibaly, the agreement represents a decisive turning point, with strategic importance in an uncertain international context, and marks the beginning of a partnership expected to grow sustainably.

“Côte d’Ivoire is engaged in a transformation of its energy sector. This transformation requires reforms and investments, but above all, it requires solid, reliable, and experienced partners. Algeria can be a strategic ally for Côte d’Ivoire—a country that has successfully built an integrated energy industry,” he stated.

During a second meeting focused on electricity and operational efficiency, Minister Sangafowa-Coulibaly met with Algeria’s Minister of Energy and Renewable Energies, Mourad Adjal, to examine the Algerian electricity sector. Algeria boasts significant industrial assets: an installed capacity of 27,000 MW (half currently utilized nationally), a 440,000 km electricity network, 13 million electricity subscribers and 8 million gas subscribers, and full mastery of the value chain, including local equipment production.

The Ivorian minister emphasized the potential benefits of cooperation to strengthen national infrastructure, expand networks, increase production capacity, and meet growing energy demand, while Côte d’Ivoire prepares to scale up its own gas resources.

The delegation also visited the headquarters of Sonatrach, a cornerstone of Algeria’s energy model, to explore industrial organization, export performance, and the integration of activities within a holding company encompassing 149 subsidiaries. For Côte d’Ivoire, the aim was to study this success as a model to inspire Petroci, the state’s technical arm in hydrocarbons, and to structure a more integrated national energy sector.

Algeria reaffirmed its readiness to support this transformation, especially as Côte d’Ivoire prepares to increase its production at the Baleine field from 60,000 to over 200,000 barrels per day in the coming years.