Abdourahmane Cissé has been appointed as Cote d’Ivoire’s Minister of Petroleum, Energy and Renewable Energy, succeeding former minister, Thierry Tanoh.
Cissé is expected to stabilize the country’s oil sector and revive negotiations with a number of international oil companies including Total and Vitol – regarding the construction of a liquefied natural gas treatment plant and the production of gas in block CI-202 – respectively.
Aside from hydrocarbons, Cissé will be in charge of overseeing multiple projects in the country’s dynamic power sector.
A concession was signed between the government and the largest independent power producer in West Africa, Ciprel, a subsidiary of energy group Eranove, two weeks ago for the construction of a combined cycle power plant that will have a capacity of 390MW and will support the country’s objective of producing 4000 MW of power by 2020.
The power plant will create 2,500 jobs during the construction phase and 100 direct jobs during operations.
Other projects yet to be finalized include the first floating solar power plant in the region and several biomass power plants to be developed by Ivorian agro-giant SIFCA and French EDF. Côte d’Ivoire aims to increase renewables stake in its energy mix to 11 percent in 2020 and 16 percent in 2030.
