More than 80 companies are still in the bosom of the State, including a third under majority control. Some
are profitable, others show heavy deficits, torn between financial objectives and service missions
public.
Hardly a few amateurs of financial charts have noticed this. At the end of 2018, the 82 companies
public companies in the portfolio of State shareholdings generated cumulative revenue of approximately
4,220 billion CFA francs (about 6.4 billion euros) for a net result of 306.5 billion CFA francs. This
latest figure, driven in particular by good performance in the mining sectors (Compagnie Minière du
Bafing, Boudoukou Manganese, etc.) and hydrocarbons (with the Ivorian Refining Company [SIR] or
still Petroci), was up 36.6% over one year. It had thus favored a significant increase in
dividends collected by the State, the amount of which has tripled in one year, to stand at 70 billion CFA francs.
Often criticized for its omnipresence in strategic sectors of the national economy, the Ivorian state
nevertheless acts as a wise investor, taking care to put in place practices that make it possible to improve the
governance and the results of these companies. For example, "the financial rating of the entities with participation
State has a double interest. On the one hand, the rated entity offers itself access to the financial market by being
transparency and by creating a rating history that contributes to significantly improving its power to
negotiation with potential investors. On the other hand, it improves the visibility of the State on its companies,
allowing it a better orientation, "explains to the pan-African financial rating agency Bloomfield.
Investment, based in Abidjan.
Emblematic of this public investment policy, the Autonomous Port of Abidjan (PAA), 100% owned by
the State, has undergone this exercise for eight years. As a result, his grade steadily improved, going from
BBB– in 2012 to AA– in 2019. That's a jump of seven notches on Bloomfield's rating scale. According to
agency, this progress reflects the improvement in the internal governance of the PAA, through the implementation of
program contracts, as well as the operational performance it has achieved. And thanks to these performances,
the port – which recorded a net result of 21.774 billion CFA francs in 2018, i.e. + 95% in one year – can
today borrow without the guarantee of the State.
“This dynamic is also observed at the level of the Road Maintenance Fund (FER), which has improved its
governance through a framework agreement defining the scope of its mission, its remuneration, as well as the
government bonds, explains Stanislas Zézé, the boss of Bloomfield Investment. FER's long-term rating
went from B+ in 2009 to A– in 2018.”
But what is the strategy of the Ivorian state? Unlike most countries on the continent, which shine with
excessive politicization of State companies, Côte d'Ivoire is distinguished by a differentiated management of the
performance. The State attaches particular importance to the management of public enterprises, both in terms of
operational as well as in terms of governance. To ensure that financial objectives are taken into account,
budgets and development of each public company, it has already concluded contracts for
performance with many of the major companies, such as PAA, CI-Énergies, Sodefor, Sodexam or even
Onep. A monitoring system guarantees compliance with stakeholder commitments.
In addition, the General Directorate of the State Portfolio (DGPE) was created and responsible, among other things, for monitoring
operations relating to the economic, financial, administrative and legal management of State companies and companies with public financial participation, under national and international law. In fact, the state has initiated a
restructuring of the portfolio of public companies, which it wants to resize, in accordance with its objectives
of development. With the help of the international firm Boston Consulting Group, the DGPE has thus redefined its
process and its methodology for evaluating public participations. “From now on, these are backed by
performance contracts [economic, financial and organizational], so the key criterion is the
profitability, summarizes the boss of a management and intermediation company based in Abidjan. This lets you know
when to sell a business or whether to keep it. »
Over the past five years, share sales in companies such as SN Sosuco, Compagnie Ivoirienne
for the development of textiles (CIDT), Banque de l'habitat de Côte d'Ivoire (BHCI), or even the introduction in
Stock market of NSIA Banque Côte d'Ivoire, thus brought in more than 24 billion CFA francs. Since the launch of
program of privatizations, the State notably got rid of its shareholdings deemed "toxic or not very
profitable”. In February 2017, he sold his 90% share in CIDT to the industrialist Koné Daouda Soukpafolo for
an amount of 7 billion CFA francs.
The wind of privatization has also blown over mining companies. The Mining Development Corporation
of Côte d'Ivoire (Sodemi) sold 30% of its stake in the capital of Société des mines d'Ity (SMI), of which
25% was acquired by Endeavor Mining (which now owns 80%, read pp. 138-139) and 5% by the group
Keyman Investissement, with Sodemi retaining 5% of the capital and the Ivorian State 10%. Finally, in 2018, the latter
sold a 51.6% public stake in BHCI to the Canadian firm Westbridge Mortgage Reit (a
operation at the origin of a showdown between the Ivorian government and Westbridge over bad debts
in the liabilities of the bank which would have been concealed).
“Public companies are managed according to private standards with a view to profitability and they
bring billions in dividends to the State, comments Stanislas Zézé. This is obviously a good thing
for public finances. But you have the strategic sectors, for example the energy sector [like
this is the case of EDF in France], where the presence of the State is necessary to deliver a quality public service. »
But the good performance conceals disparities. Because if the National Lottery of Côte d'Ivoire (Lonaci) has
doubled its revenues and the PAA generated record profits, Air Côte d'Ivoire, on the other hand, suffered a heavy
deficit (9.6 billion CFA francs), although it is common for airlines to lose money during
of their first years of practice. Air Côte d'Ivoire is part, with the National Investment Bank, the
Caisse Nationale des Caisses d'Epargne and the National Agency for the Universal Service of Telecommunications,
public corporations with the largest deficits. Their cumulative loss is estimated at
60 billion CFA francs.