Thanks to a fruitful collaboration between South Africa’s Ministry of Agriculture and Côte d’Ivoire’s Economic and Trade Office in Johannesburg, legal authorization to export Ivorian bananas to South Africa was granted on March 3, 2015.  The first company to take advantage of this opportunity is Compagnie Frutière, whose bananas are now available in South African supermarkets.

The Economic and Trade Representative, Mr. Patrice Mallet says,

“With Ivorian banana production increasing rapidly, it’s a pleasure to bring our superior quality bananas to the South African market.  It’s my sincere hope that this will be just the first in a long line of Ivorian products that will meet South Africa’s stringent phytosanitary requirements.”

Côte d’Ivoire accounts for over half of Africa’s total banana production.  Thanks to significant investments in expanding banana plantings to the northern part of the country, Côte d’Ivoire produces over 21,000 tonnes of bananas annually.