Mé region

The ME region is as follows:

• Located in the south of Côte d'Ivoire, it is divided into four (04) Departments: Adzopé ( County town), Alépé, Yakassé-Attobrou and Akoupé. It covers an area of 8,237 km2.
• Its total population is 726,665, including 382,827 men and 343,838 women (INS, RGPH 2021).
• The population of Adzopé (Department) is 283,727, including 147,511 men and 136,216 women (INS, RGPH 2021).
• Adzopé, county town of the Region and Local Economic Connector (a small town at an early stage of urbanization facilitating internal economies of scale, such as hosting a large company processing local agricultural products), is an area of high agricultural production and wood processing.
• An industrial zone exists here: located in the department of Adzopé (507 ha).
• Mobile network coverage (July 2022): 100% of localities and 100% of the population are covered.

Growth sectors are as follows:

Agriculture (MEMINADER, 2023):

• Cash crops: Cocoa (68,171 tonnes in 2021 and 73,150 tonnes in 2022), Coffee (2,816 tonnes in 2021 and 2,969 tonnes in 2022), Oil palm (16,029 tonnes in 2021 and 14,436 tonnes in 2022), Hevea (84,449 tonnes in 2021 and 111,486 tonnes in 2022) ;
• Food crops: Plantain (219,200 tons in 2021 and 227,695 tons in 2022), Hevea (10,561 tons in 2021 and 10,834 tons in 2022), Cassava (550,933 tons in 2021 and 594,799 tons in 2022), Rice (2,480 tons in 2021 and 1,904 tons in 2022), Corn (3,623 tons in 2021 and 3,813 tons in 2022), Taro (1,991 tons in 2021 and 2,051 tons in 2022), Potato (451 tons in 2021 and 468 tons in 2022);
• Vegetable crops: Eggplant (1,568 tons in 2021 and 1,606 tons in 2022), Okra (4,319 tons in 2022 and 4,450 tons in 2022), Tomato (511 tons in 2021 and 527 tons in 2022).

Animal resources (MIRAH, 2022 forecasts): Cattle (2,898 head), Sheep (10,236 head), Goats (2,067 head), Pigs (2,021 head), Poultry (Broilers: 312,703 head, Layers: 325,011 head, Traditional chickens: 23,966 head).

Agro-industry: one (01) oil palm processing unit, Attiéké manufacturing units (Diapé and Alepé), one (01) lemon pressing unit (Village Bécouefin), industrial sweet banana plantations and a municipal slaughterhouse in Adzopé.

Other industries: six (06) wood processing units employing around 3,500 people and processing an average of 277,000 m3 of logs per year.

Mining: gold exploration and extraction (one company based in the Assikoi and Yakassé-Attobrou S/Ps), one gravel and sand quarrying company.

As part of the implementation of the National Development Plan (NDP) 2021-2025, the ME Region is part of the area covered by the Agro-pole food basin and agro-industrial zone near Abidjan.

Investment opportunities exist in the following sectors:

• Agriculture: investment in agro-industry for the transformation of strong agricultural production.
• Mining: gold exploration and extraction.
• Tourism: Development of classified forests for ecotourism.

A number of priority projects and actions have been identified in the NDP 2021-2025 for the Mé Region, including:

• Development of an industrial zone (30 ha).
• Electrification of remaining localities: 53 localities to be electrified in the Autonomous District of Lagunes, which includes the Mé Region.
• Construction and reinforcement of roads: heavy reprofiling (616.4 km), light reprofiling (2,459.17 km) and structures (15).
• Construction of social and economic housing.
• Implementation of a land development program to produce housing and serviced plots accessible to all.
• Implementation of the Competitive Economic Hub (Competitive Economic Hub - PEC) program in Adzopé (Local Economic Connector - LEC).