JCDecaux S.A. (Euronext Paris: DEC), the number one outdoor advertising company worldwide, announced today that JCDecaux Côte d’Ivoire, joint venture jointly owned with Bolloré Group has signed a 20-year contract for a street furniture advertising program with Cocody (around 800,000 inhabitants).
Cocody, one of the largest municipalities (80km2) in Abidjan – the economic capital of Ivory Coast – consists of business districts, shopping areas, and residential sectors. The city would like to provide its residents with general-interest street furniture for better exposure of city information and more comfortable living for its citizens, at no cost to the community.
This contract covers the design, installation, operation and maintenance of nearly 100 street furniture items, including:
• 90 city information panels (CIPs);
• Automatic outdoor public toilets, the first of their kind installed in French-speaking Africa.
With this quality-focused street furniture programme, Cocody wants to establish an effective local communication platform with its citizens while improving the city's appearance and living conditions by incorporating advertising.
On the strength of a compound annual growth rate of nearly 8% since 2012, Ivory Coast is seen as a regional economic power in West Africa (35% of WAEMU GDP1). This positive momentum, paired with an ambitious investment policy, is behind the positive diversification of the Ivoirian economy for the advertising sector, with investments exceeding $100 million in 20162.
Through its innovative solutions at the centre of everyday mobility, JCDecaux intends to be part of the growth and modernisation of the outdoor advertising sector in Ivory Coast.
Mathias N’Goan Aka Kacou, Mayor of Cocody, said: "This contract is a critical step for Cocody. With the expertise of JCDecaux, the values of respect, transparency, and engagement that we share, as well as our common vision of a great future for Cocody, I am sure that we will succeed in providing the city with high-quality street furniture. I want this partnership to be a productive one in the fight against climate change and the quest for sustainable development.”
Jean-Sébastien Decaux, CEO Southern Europe, Belgium and Luxembourg, Africa and Israel, said: "We are honoured to support Cocody in its project to improve city information and enhance the urban environment. With this contract, JCDecaux is committed to hiring and training local employees, thereby creating jobs in this economic area. Cocody is an innovative community that embodies the financial progress of Ivory Coast. As the number one outdoor advertising company in Africa and worldwide, we are going to mobilise our expertise to ensure this partnership is a success, by offering innovative, high-quality services to the municipality and its residents, as well as premium ad space for advertisers and their brands, with complementary back-lit street furniture from our network of bus shelters. As champions of the sustainable smart city since its creation, JCDecaux is partnering with Cocody in the "Cocody: Green City, Carbon Sink" project to contribute to the greening of certain areas of the city.”
1 West African Economic and Monetary Union
2 Source: Zenith