While the Europe-Africa summit in Luanda, Angola, brought together the top leaders of both continents, it also hosted more focused bilateral meetings. These technical sessions strengthen cooperation and allow for discussion of specific issues.

Côte d’Ivoire’s Prime Minister, Robert Beugré Mambé, met with his Dutch counterpart, Dick Schoof, at his “headquarters” at the Intercontinental Hotel in Luanda. The meeting was significant. The news may surprise some, but the Netherlands is actually Côte d’Ivoire’s largest European trade partner.

For nearly an hour, the two heads of government leveraged their presence at the 7th EU-Africa Summit to accelerate diplomatic and, more importantly, economic relations between their countries.

The Netherlands is Côte d’Ivoire’s leading European partner for exports. However, over the past three years, trade between the two countries has declined. The Prime Minister explained: “Côte d’Ivoire has strengthened its domestic processing of raw materials, especially cocoa. As a result, less volume is exported to the Netherlands. That is the first factor. The second is the war in Ukraine, which has impacted everything, causing instability in trade levels with this country.”

Following this assessment, both sides agreed on a plan. The two Prime Ministers discussed the need to identify strategies to increase trade. Beugré Mambé said: “We highlighted the need to find the ingredients that can support an increase in exchanges. This is the work we will do together during the next meeting of the joint Côte d’Ivoire-Netherlands commission.”

Côte d’Ivoire also aims to make its European partner a strategic ally in the horticulture sector, where the Netherlands has proven expertise. “In Tiébissou, the Netherlands has a major pilot program that has trained over 240 young people in horticulture. This is a sector that generates significant revenue. We want to become a leader again after being strongly affected a few years ago. Côte d’Ivoire wants to regain a strong position,” said Robert Beugré Mambé.

The animal feed production project in Anyama is also part of the cooperation between the two countries.

The development of lagoon transport was discussed during the meeting, along with maritime trade. “The Netherlands specializes in all maritime sectors, which explains the partnership between the port of Amsterdam and the ports of Abidjan and San Pedro,” the Prime Minister noted.

The two leaders reviewed the key sectors that highlight the strength of cooperation between their countries. “Densification and quality of our partnership was the guiding principle of this meeting with the Netherlands, who are very proud of this cooperation,” concluded Beugré Mambé.

Cooperation between Côte d’Ivoire and the Netherlands has been ongoing since 1961.

Special Correspondent in Luanda, Angola