The Abidjan Stock Exchange (Bourse de Valeurs d'Abidjan), one of only four in Africa, was created in 1976 to encourage domestic investment and to provide Ivoirian industries with access to the international financial market. It was only partially successful. Of an estimated 700 companies in Côte d'Ivoire, the shares of only 25 were quoted on the exchange. Most investors in the quoted companies were foreign residents or businesses; in 1986 Ivoirians owned only 30 percent of the shares. Trading activity tended to be sluggish, particularly during the protracted recession in the early 1980s. For example, the value of shares traded fell from CFA F830 million in 1982 to CFA F400 million in 1984.
Data as of November 1988