On Friday, May 22, 2026, Fabrice Coulibaly, Director General of the Road Management Agency (AGEROUTE), met with the future managers of the 61st class of the National School of Administration (ENA) in Cocody.

The objective? To present the national strategy for the road network and to raise awareness among students about the challenges of the country's sustainable and economic development.

Tolls: The price of sustainability and development

At the heart of the discussions, the crucial issue of infrastructure financing and the installation of toll plazas (currently 14 operational and 4 under construction) was clarified. Fabrice Coulibaly reiterated a simple reality: the polluter-pays principle, or the user-contributor principle .

"We introduce tolls because we want users to contribute to the maintenance of the roads they use. If the state has to take care of everything alone, development will be too slow, whereas everyone wants to see paved roads reach their village."

The Ivorian road network in figures

The Director General of AGEROUTE put into perspective the road that still needs to be traveled to modernize the country by comparing the national situation to the international level:

1. 9,800 km : This is the current network of paved roads in Ivory Coast.
2. 82,000 km : This is the overall objective set by the government.
3. 1,000,000 km : For comparison, this is the paved road network of France.

These figures demonstrate the urgent need to secure funds for the maintenance of existing routes while continuing to expand the network, which is essential to save time for the population and to streamline the economy.

A call for education among the population

Representing the Director General of ENA, Ms. Vanié (née Debé) Roselyne Salomon, Director of Studies, warmly welcomed this initiative. She expressed her sincere gratitude to the head of AGEROUTE for his transparency and the wealth of data shared.

In conclusion, she invited the ENA students to become true ambassadors of public action and to explain in an educational way to the public the rationale for the government's economic decisions.