The Ivory Coast Embassy last week put the country’s rising prospects in the limelight at its 56th independence anniversary reception.

Its National Day on Aug. 7 commemorated the West African nation’s liberation from colonial France, which ruled from the mid-19th century to 1960.

The country’s late first President Felix Houphouet-Boigny, who was a medical aide, union leader and planter before being elected to the French Parliament, led the country toward independence. He is widely credited for his role in helping the continent’s decolonization from European powers as well as maintaining close relations with West African nations and the West, particularly France.

Following his death in 1993, the Ivory Coast underwent a coup and two religious civil wars that ended in 2011. On Oct. 25 last year, the country reelected President Alassane Ouattara, 74, a former American-trained economist and top official at the International Monetary Fund.

According to the New York Times, Ouattara has guided the country’s economic growth to surpass 8 percent over each of the last four years. His challenge is to “sustain such growth and spread it evenly across all regions as he tries to reconcile this still-divided nation,” the Times noted.

“Our National Day is a privileged moment for all Ivorians, who patriotically express their vision of togetherness and commitment to make their country a land of peace, brotherhood and prosperity,” Ivorian Ambassador Sylvestre Kouassi Bile said in a speech on Aug. 8. “Sharing the same values, the sons and daughters of Ivory Coast worked together to bring about a new dynamic in our country, which has reasserted its solid leadership in Africa.”

On the back of rapid national development, Ivory Coast -- among the largest economies in West Africa, with 23 million people and $32 billion in gross domestic product -- aims to join the ranks of emerging economies by 2020, he added.

The ambassador stressed that two major events are scheduled this year: a referendum on constitutional reform aimed at reflecting Ivorian society’s evolution and institutional improvements; and legislative elections for renewing deputies’ mandate and strengthening democracy.

The French-speaking nation was the first African state to establish diplomatic relations with South Korea in 1961. President Ouattara visited Korea in October 2014 as the first Ivorian head of state on an official visit.

In December last year, the Korea-Ivory Coast Economic Forum was held in the Ivory Coast’s economic capital Abidjan, and in June this year, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency opened an office there following the Korea International Cooperation Agency.

The two countries recorded bilateral trade of $230 million last year, up from $120 million in 2012, according to the embassy. Twenty Korean companies are operating in Ivory Coast in the transport infrastructure, electronics and automotive industries.

Hyundai Rotem and Dongsan Engineering will participate in an international consortium to construct the first suburban rail network in the country. The $1.45 billion project will link Abidjan’s city center with its suburbs and the Felix Houphouet-Boigny International Airport. It is projected to carry 300,000 passengers per day along its 37 kilometers. Construction can begin next year and is expected to be completed by 2019 for operational service in 2020.

Korean firm GS E&C has been selected to complete building Abidjan’s fifth major bridge.

“I cannot express enough how grateful Ivory Coast is to the Korean government for financing the national oncology center in Abidjan, which will allow quality care for people in West Africa,” Bile added.

Ivory Coast, which produces 45,000 barrels of oil per day, is devoting special attention to high-growth sectors of information and communications technology and renewable energy, he said. It is also the world’s top exporter of cocoa and raw cashew nuts.

The Ivorian government adopted its National Development Plan that spans 2016-2020 and encompasses major structural reforms intended to nurture sustainable and inclusive growth of the private sector.

By Joel Lee (joel@heraldcorp.com)