During a visit to the National Chamber of Trades of Côte d’Ivoire, the Minister of Trade, Industry, and Crafts, Kalil Konaté, reaffirmed the government’s commitment to formalizing and thoroughly modernizing the crafts sector, a strategic pillar of the national economy.

On this occasion, he announced the upcoming organization of a major event at the Treichville Palace of Culture, aimed at raising awareness among stakeholders about the importance of professional cards (for traders, entrepreneurs, and artisans), essential tools for their identification, support, and access to assistance programs. “We must believe in our ability to modernize this sector,” he emphasized, highlighting the importance of better structuring nearly 10 million economic actors.

Representing nearly 19.5% of the national GDP and employing over three million artisans, the crafts sector is showing remarkable growth, with an estimated added value of 8,668 billion FCFA in 2024, compared to 3,800 billion FCFA previously.

With this in mind, the government aims to increase this contribution to 15 trillion FCFA over the next five years through structural reforms, capacity building, and large-scale projects, including the modern scrapyard in N’Dotré.

This direction has been welcomed by the President of the National Chamber of Trades, Bamba Kassoum, who advocates for strengthened synergy in actions to build a more organized, competitive, and value-creating sector.