Cote d'Ivoire will meet the conditions to become a member of Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) following the discovery of important deposits, the country's Minister of Mines, Petroleum and Energy Mamadou Sangafowa Coulibaly said.
At the end of an exchange with the country's Group of Petroleum Professionals (GPP), Mamadou Sangafowa Coulibaly urged these actors of the Ivorian petroleum sector to invest more in the Ivorian sedimentary basin and to take their full place in the development of the extractive industry.
"If yesterday Côte d'Ivoire was only an importer country, with these various discoveries, we will become a net exporter of petroleum products in a very short time," he assured.
The minister also called on the national private sector to play a major role in ensuring that this wealth is used to benefit the country. According to him, the government wants to make the extractive industry the second pillar of the Ivorian economy after agriculture.
While Cote d'Ivoire seeks to join OPEC, Angola announced in December 2023 that the country would leave the organization over disagreements on production quotas after OPEC decided to further cut output in 2024.