Ivory Coast Aims to Make Tourism the Third Pillar of Its Economy

Ivory Coast raised 5.8 billion euros ($6.4 billion) for its tourism sector during a roundtable in Germany on Friday, the second such bid in about a month to attract foreign hotels and tour operators to the West African country.

The government said in a statement it hoped to raise $1 billion during the roadshow in Hamburg. Last month it raised $5 billion in pledges during a similar drive in Dubai, it said in a statement without giving any details.

Ivory Coast’s Tourism Minister Siandou Fofana said by phone from Hamburg the government had signed 12 memorandums of understanding with several companies. It didn’t name any of the investors.

The world’s top cocoa producer wants to make tourism the third pillar of its economy by 2025 with a goal of creating 700,000 jobs in the sector. The industry was wiped out during a decade-long conflict that ended in 2011 and divided the country into a rebel-held north and government-run south.

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