Ivory Coast aims to double gold output by 2025

ABIDJAN: Ivory Coast plans to double gold production by 2025, its vice president said on Monday, as the west African country strives to revive its long-neglected mining sector.

Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa producer, is seeking to diversify revenues by increasing gold output from 25 tonnes last year to 50 tonnes between 2020 and 2025, said Daniel Kablan Duncan at the opening of an ECOWAS meeting on mining and petroleum in the commercial capital Abidjan.

Mining sector turnover rose by 11.5 percent in 2017, an increase achieved mainly via exports of gold, manganese and nickel.