The first day of the “Youth-Business” Forum of the African Talents for International (T.A.I.) program, held this Thursday, April 02, 2026, at the Maison de l’Entreprise (CGECI) in Abidjan, brought together companies, young talents, and ecosystem stakeholders around a common goal: accelerating the internationalization of Ivorian companies and strengthening youth employability within the WAEMU space.
An initiative of the WAEMU, the T.A.I. program provides a concrete response to a double structural challenge: on one side, companies in search of skills to develop internationally; on the other, qualified young graduates in search of professional opportunities.
As highlighted during the speeches, this forum was precisely designed to create a meeting framework between Ivorian companies and young talents.
The opening ceremony, marked by the presence of high national and regional authorities, notably Mr. Raymond Laurent ASSOUA, Chief of Staff and Representative of Mr. Kalil KONATÉ, Minister of Trade, Industry, and Handicrafts, Mr. Bright B. KONÉ, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Agence Côte d’Ivoire Export, Ms. Rose KABRAN, Director of Trade of the WAEMU Commission, Dr. Robert AKINDE, Permanent Technical Secretary of the ROPC-WAEMU, and Chairman of the T.A.I. The Project Technical Committee reaffirmed its will to make the T.A.I. a strategic lever for economic transformation and regional integration.
In his intervention, the Director General of Agence Côte d’Ivoire Export recalled that:
“investing in a T.A.I. Talent is to engage a true ambassador of Ivorian excellence abroad.”
During this meeting, two major panels structured the exchanges, as well as the signing of a convention with the National Committee of Women Entrepreneurs Organizations of Côte d’Ivoire for the African Continental Free Trade Area (CNOFECI-ZLECAf), then the Federation of Young Entrepreneurs of Côte d’Ivoire (FEJECI).
This first day thus marks an important step in the revitalisation of the program in Côte d’Ivoire, with the ambition of making it a key tool at the service of corporate competitiveness and regional economic integration.
