AI regulation in Côte d'Ivoire: laws & policy (2026)

African vocational-training institutions meeting in Abidjan under ILO and GIZ auspices adopted the Abidjan Declaration on AI, committing to modernise training systems, build an African AI-skills framework, train at least 1,000 AI trainers per country by 2027, and reach 40% female participation in AI programmes. The declaration positions Abidjan as a continental convening hub for AI governance and labour-market adaptation.

At the inaugural Ivoire Tech Forum in Abidjan, the government announced the Fonds Ivoirien de l'Innovation Technologique (F2IT) with initial capital of 100 billion CFA francs (~$160 million) to finance high-potential digital and AI startups. The fund — governed under private-sector standards with minority public participation — operationalises the investment pillar of the SNIA 2030.

The Ministry of Digital Transition and the Ivorian Business Confederation (CGECI) jointly presented the National AI Strategy (SNIA 2030) and National Data Governance Strategy (SNGD 2030) to the private sector, outlining compliance expectations, investment opportunities, and the planned Safe AI Côte d'Ivoire certification mechanism developed with UNESCO.

Prime Minister Robert Beugré Mambé officially unveiled Côte d'Ivoire's Stratégie Nationale de l'Intelligence Artificielle (SNIA 2030) and Stratégie Nationale de la Gouvernance des Données (SNGD 2030) at the Sofitel Hôtel Ivoire in Abidjan. The SNIA carries a projected budget exceeding 1 trillion CFA francs through 2030, plans a National AI Agency, mandates ethical and legal standards, and introduces a 'Safe AI' label; developed with input from over 1,500 stakeholders and aligned with the AU Continental AI Strategy.

The Agence Nationale de la Sécurité des Systèmes d'Information (ANSSI) was created by ministerial decree, consolidating cybersecurity coordination, critical-infrastructure protection, and incident crisis management under one authority. ANSSI recorded over 12,100 cybercrime cases in 2024 and provides the operational security backbone for AI system deployments across public and private sectors.

African Ministers adopted the AU Continental AI Strategy at the 13th Extraordinary Session of the Executive Council, endorsing an Africa-centric, development-focused approach to ethical and responsible AI alongside the African Digital Compact. Côte d'Ivoire explicitly structured its SNIA 2030 drafting process to conform to this AU framework, making continental alignment a formal design constraint of national AI policy.

The Telecommunications/ICT Regulatory Authority (ARTCI) launched a multi-stakeholder public consultation on the technical, ethical, and societal challenges of AI and the metaverse, directly feeding into SNIA 2030 drafting. ARTCI also planned regulatory impact studies on professional biometrics, video surveillance, drone use, and data-protection implications of AI — signalling the regulator's intent to issue sector-specific AI guidance.

Law No. 2023-901 established a comprehensive incentive framework for AI-enabled digital startups, including a government-issued Digital Startup Label, tax and customs advantages, an electronic portal for administrative procedures, and a dedicated ministerial labelling committee. The law created the legal and fiscal scaffolding for the domestic AI innovation ecosystem that SNIA 2030 would later formalise.

The Council of Ministers adopted the 7-pillar National Digital Development Strategy (SNDI 2025) covering infrastructure, digital services, financial services, skills, cybersecurity, innovation, and e-government — with 32 reforms and 96 projects backed by 2,000 billion CFA francs. The strategy was the first national framework to identify AI readiness as a cross-cutting development goal and set the stage for the dedicated SNIA 2030.

Adopted alongside the data-protection law, Law No. 2013-451 criminalises ICT-specific offences, defines liability of online service providers, and sets digital criminal procedure rules — forming the enforcement backbone against malicious uses of AI, automated fraud, and algorithmic manipulation of networks.

Côte d'Ivoire's foundational data law established individual rights — including an explicit right not to be subject to decisions based solely on automated processing — and required prior ARTCI notification for all personal data processing, with mandatory authorisation for sensitive data. The law directly governs AI systems that profile, score, or automatically decide on individuals, and remains the principal data-law basis for AI regulation.

Law No. 2013-546 established the legal framework governing electronic contracts, digital signatures, and online service-provider liabilities, providing the commercial law infrastructure on which AI-driven e-commerce, automated contracting, and algorithmic recommendation systems would later operate.