Côte d’Ivoire has opened applications for two programmes that will support 30 digital companies over 24 months, launched alongside a ministry roadmap that places AI adoption among seven strategic pillars for the next three years.
Minister of Digital Transition and Technological Innovation Djibril Ouattara launched Ivoire Tech Next 15, for startups, and Ivoire Tech Scale Up, for established SMEs, at the Sofitel Abidjan Hôtel Ivoire on 29 July. Each programme will back 15 companies. Applications are free, close on 13 September, and shortlisted projects will be presented to an independent international jury, with winners announced in Abidjan at the end of September.
Who qualifies
The eligibility criteria are unusually specific for a programme of this kind, and they define two distinct cohorts.
Ivoire Tech Next 15 targets startups headquartered in Côte d’Ivoire that have been operating at least a year, generate established and growing revenue from an innovative product or service, are majority-owned by their founders, and are current on tax and social obligations.
Ivoire Tech Scale Up sets a considerably higher bar: legal establishment in Côte d’Ivoire, between three and five completed financial statements, at least 75% Ivorian ownership of capital, average turnover of CFA 500 million over three to five years with at least 65% from digital activities, a product already in market, and a minimum of 10 employees.
The 75% local ownership requirement and the digital-revenue threshold are the notable filters. Together they exclude foreign-controlled entities and companies where digital work is a side business — narrowing the pool to genuinely Ivorian technology firms with demonstrated scale.
A route into government contracts
Ouattara also announced the creation of Ivoire GovTech Lab, a platform for the digitalisation of public administration. Government digital projects will be published on the platform, with startups and SMEs able to apply directly online.
That is the more consequential mechanism for the local ecosystem. Public procurement is one of the few levers a government has to create early demand for domestic technology companies, and publishing projects openly rather than routing them through established contractors changes who can compete for them.
Where AI sits
The launch included presentation of the ministry’s 2026–2028 roadmap, structured around seven strategic pillars and 40 major projects, forming part of the National Digital Development Strategy and aligned with the National Development Plan 2026–2030.
The pillars cover strengthening connectivity, digital transformation of public administration, technological innovation, artificial intelligence adoption, digital skills development, e-commerce promotion, and cybersecurity and digital trust.
AI adoption as a standalone pillar continues a trajectory Côte d’Ivoire has been building for over a year. The country secured a $95 million UAE funding commitment in late 2025 covering a modular data centre, sovereign cloud, and an AI and innovation centre of excellence, alongside AI-powered upgrades to its civil service management system. It signed memoranda with UAE-based G42 Presight on public sector digitalisation and national strategy development, and adopted a national AI strategy that formed part of the shared governance framework six Francophone West African countries adopted last month.
Ouattara said the initiatives aim to “develop digital leaders in Côte d’Ivoire” and position the country as a regional technology hub, citing commitments from government, development partners, major companies and investors to improve access to funding, markets and skills for local firms.
The measurable target is the clearest statement of intent: over the next three years, the government wants to double the digital sector’s contribution to national GDP, currently estimated at between 6% and 8%.
Whether the programmes deliver that depends on execution rather than criteria. But the combination of a supported cohort, a public procurement channel through GovTech Lab, and a local-ownership requirement is a more structurally coherent package than most startup support announcements on the continent — and it is aimed at companies that already have revenue rather than at pre-product founders.
