Côte d’Ivoire’s international bonds advanced on Monday, 15 December, following a credit rating upgrade by Fitch Ratings, reflecting investor confidence in the West African country’s economic momentum, political stability and fiscal reforms.
Fitch said on last Friday it had lifted the rating of the world’s largest cocoa producer to ‘BB’ from ‘BB-’, with a stable outlook, placing it two notches below investment grade and one notch above South Africa’s ‘BB-’ rating.
The upgrade strengthened the country’s credit profile and provided an immediate boost to its debt instruments. Dollar-denominated bonds due in 2033 rose by 0.6 cents to 105.75 cents on the dollar, pushing yields down to 6.31%, their lowest level since October.
Fitch cited robust growth prospects, forecasting GDP expansion to accelerate from 6.4% in 2025 to 6.6% in 2027, well above the ‘BB’ median range of 3.5%–3.9%. The agency highlighted diversified growth drivers, including higher cocoa, oil and gold exports, alongside expanding agricultural and mining output supported by infrastructure investment.
Improving debt dynamics also underpinned the upgrade. Fitch expects government debt to fall from 59.5% of GDP in 2024 to 56.1% by 2027, aided by tax reforms, debt restructuring and tighter fiscal discipline. The fiscal deficit is projected to narrow from 4.0% of GDP in 2024 to 3.0% in 2025 as authorities rein in spending and strengthen revenue mobilization.
Moody’s currently rates Côte d’Ivoire at ‘Ba2’ with a stable outlook, while S&P Global assigns a ‘BB’ rating, also with a stable outlook, reinforcing a broad-based improvement in the country’s sovereign risk perception.