• BASF, the world's leading chemical company, establishes a legal entity in Ivory Coast to enable future growth opportunities.
• BASF is looking at Ivory Coast as the hub country for West Africa French Speaking countries and has expanded its capabilities considerably to continue innovating in this important region.

BASF, the world's leading chemical company, established a new legal entity in Ivory Coast, located in Abidjan. BASF has been present in Africa for many years with a presence in Morocco and other countries of the Maghreb for over 60 years, as well as in South Africa, where BASF has a big footprint since 50 years. In 2010 BASF launched a specific strategy for Africa and created 4 country clusters with main offices located in Casablanca (for North and French West Africa), Lagos (for English West Africa), Nairobi (for East Africa) and Midrand (for Southern Africa).

“We are supporting our business growth throughout Africa with the support of other smaller offices we opened in Zambia, Tanzania, and lately in Ivory Coast. Overall we are present in more than 12 countries right now and we plan to keep on increasing our presence in the next years”, explains Andres Monroy, Managing Director of BASF North and West Africa French speaking countries. After having a representative office in Abidjan, BASF has expanded its presence in Ivory Coast and inaugurated a new office with a new legal entity to show its commitment in the country as BASF’s sales are growing. “Our customers have already experienced the outstanding performance of BASF products and now they will have a local office to provide them advice and support in applications of the BASF technology”, added Andres Monroy.

Ivory Coast as a hub country for West Africa French Speaking countries
BASF is looking at Ivory Coast as a key growth market and has expanded its capabilities considerably to continue innovating in this important region. Last year, BASF sales in North and West Africa have been more than 200 million euros.  BASF is also employing market development staff to better understand the needs and potential demands of the local market. “We will be supporting our customers in the francophone West Africa (eg. Burkina Faso, Senegal, Togo, etc) and we are strengthening our presence also in Cameroon”, said Andres Monroy.

The growth strategy is driven by BASF’s innovative products and solutions that contribute to conserving resources, ensuring good nutrition and improving quality of life. BASF seeks to leverage its leading position as an integrated global chemical company to create opportunities in Ivory Coast.

BASF sells a wide range of products in North and French speaking West Africa, with an emphasis on the agricultural and construction sectors that play a very important role in the business expansion in Africa, as well as, the personal care industry, mining, nutrition & water treatment. The company is also encouraging employment and training of the local workforce with the aim to enhance the population’s technical skill-set over a period of time.