In Côte d'Ivoire, statistics have very often revealed an effective repatriation rate below regulatory requirements, with the failure to transfer currencies being attributable to both economic operators and banks. While the repatriation of export earnings plays an important role in foreign trade, it feeds the BCEAO's foreign exchange reserves. Foreign exchange reserves are essential to a State, especially since they allow the country to honor its commitments with the outside world, in particular, to ensure the payment of import bills, the service of the external debt and the payment of dividends.

In order to implement mechanisms aimed at improving this rate, a National Committee for Monitoring the Repatriation of Export Revenues (CNSRRE) was set up in 2014 following a decision in 2012 by the Governor of the BCEAO who wished that Monitoring Committees for the Repatriation of Export Revenues be created at the level of all WAEMU Member States. The meetings of the Committee constitute a framework for consultation between those subject to the regulations, namely banks and exporters, and the regulatory authorities, in particular the Public Treasury, Customs and the BCEAO, for compliance with the regulatory provisions in terms of repatriation of export earnings. As a result, the measures taken by the authorities take into account the concerns of banks and exporters, the main players in the repatriation of export earnings. Furthermore, the establishment of the Committee has created a climate of trust between reporting entities and the regulatory authorities. Five years later the results are edifying.

Indeed, the establishment of the CNSRRE has made it possible to considerably increase the rate of repatriation of export earnings: from 9.06% in 2013, it rose respectively to 27.5% in 2016; 29.5% in 2017; 61.1% in 2018 to stand at 76.0% in 2019.

The performances recorded by the CNSRRE result from the implementation of numerous actions with a view to bringing banks, approved intermediaries, and economic operators to comply with the regulations of external financial relations of WAEMU member countries.

The actions carried out by the Committee were mainly raising the awareness of banks and exporters and taking into account their concerns relating to the treatment of certain transactions not provided for in the regulations. To this end, awareness sessions were organized for the Professional Association of Coffee and Cocoa Exporters of Côte d'Ivoire (GEPEX), the General Confederation of Côte d'Ivoire Businesses (CGECI), the Union of Large Industrial Companies of Côte d'Ivoire (UGCI) and the Professional Association of Banks and Financial Institutions of Côte d'Ivoire (APBEF-CI) on the regulatory provisions relating to domiciliation and file processing procedures of export and clearance procedures for the said files.

In addition, actions have been taken by the Committee with a view to harmonizing the control methods carried out by the Authorities in order to improve their efficiency. To this end, the CNSRRE has initiated the establishment of joint control missions for liable people. For checks on credit institutions, the missions are jointly organized by the BCEAO and the Public Treasury and for those intended for exporters, the missions are carried out jointly by the BCEAO, the Public Treasury and Customs.

For 2019, several control and awareness-raising actions were carried out, including the organization of a joint control mission to companies in March 2019, the organization of the day to launch the second phase pilot of the online monitoring module for the repatriation of export earnings via the Single Window for Foreign Trade (GUCE) and a workshop to popularize the texts governing the repatriation of export earnings in September 2019.

Côte d'Ivoire intends to continue improving its results. The CNSRRE aims to reach the regulatory threshold of 80% of the rate of repatriation of export earnings. For this, it is necessary to make operational the center of incidents of repatriation of export earnings. The objective of this project is to compel, by legal provisions, exporting companies to proceed with the repatriation of all export earnings. It will also be a question of establishing a “red list” of companies in default of repatriation, which will serve as an objective basis for the effective implementation of the sanctions provided for by the texts.