Browse Data and Analysis

The FAS Accra, Abidjan (Post) Gulfood Dubai-2025 buyers delegation is generating some $16 million in potential new sales for the Coastal West Africa Region. Post led its largest buyers delegation to date from the Coastal West Africa region – 12 from Ghana, 10 from Côte d’Ivoire, and two from Togo.

Continuing economic growth; increasing tourism; a healthy hotel, restaurant, and institutional sector; and a growing population will lead the UAE’s wheat and rice consumption to grow in the 2025-2026 marketing year (MY).

FAS Abidjan, Accra (Post) sees the Côte d'Ivoire government's supports, improved inputs, and irrigation investments helping to boost rice production yields.

Côte d'Ivoire is the gateway to the francophone West African market. Its food processing sector is dynamic and growing, offering new opportunities for U.S.-origin food ingredient exporters bold enough to pioneer this market.

FAS Abidjan, Accra (Post) forecasts Côte d’Ivoire’s market year (MY) 2025/2026 (August-July) cotton fiber production at 745,000 bales (480 pounds - lb.), up two percent from the MY 2024/2025 estimate of 730,000 bales.

Total Saudi wheat imports for 2025/26 are forecast to decline 10 percent to 3.2 million metric tons (MMT), due to projected high local production. Saudi barley imports for MY 2025/26 are projected to increase by 10 percent to 3.3 MMT compared to last MY.

FAS Abidjan, Accra (Post) foresees Ivorian cocoa bean production in market year (MY) 2024/2025 (October-September) climbing upwards towards 1.8 million metric tons (MMT, improving by over 2 percent from the MY 2023/2024 season’s 1.76 MMT production figure.

The African halal market is estimated at over $150 billion. In the Coastal West Africa Region, Côte d'Ivoire's halal food and agricultural products market is similarly growing.

The Ivorian Ministry of Animal Resources and Fisheries (Ministère des Ressources Animales et Halieutiques-MIRAH) organized the November 22-24, 2024, Abidjan Livestock and Agricultural Exhibition (Le Sommet de l'Élevage d'Abidjan-SELAB).

The HRI sector is witnessing remarkable growth, fueled by urbanization, a surging population, rising disposable incomes, shifting social and cultural trends, and a thriving tourism industry. The Saudi food retail market, currently valued at $30 billion, is projected to grow by another $15 billion by 2030.

The United Arab Emirates, the Arab world's second-largest economy, will continue to offer growing and dynamic market opportunities for U.S. exporters in the food service--hotel, restaurant, and institutional sector through the end of 2024 and beyond.

The ongoing transformation of Saudi Arabia bodes well for the retail food sector. In 2023, the Saudi food retail market was estimated at more than $51 billion and projected to increase by more than 5 percent annually in the coming years due to the continued urbanization, growing population, changing shopping habits, expansion of physical store locations , and increasing popularity of online platforms.