The West and Central Africa regional presentation of the Rural Development Report will be held on 23 November in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, organized in collaboration with the African Development Bank (AfDB). High-level speakers include Kapil Kapoor, Acting Vice President, Sector Operations II & Director, Strategy and Operational Policies, AfDB; and Minayaha Coulibaly, Chief of Staff,  Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Côte d'Ivoire.

Michel Mordasini, IFAD's Vice-President, will deliver both the opening and closing remarks; Torben Nilsson, IFAD Senior Global Engagement Specialist, will present the key findings from the report and Ides de Willebois, IFAD Director, West and Central Africa Division, will focus on the regional perspectives.

Following the presentations, there will be an interactive panel discussion, moderated by Thiendou Niang, Director, Afrique Communication, Dakar, Senegal. The panellists are: Nouhoun Coulibaly, Director-General, Planning, Project Control and Statistics, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Côte d'Ivoire; Angela Dannson, Director, Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Ghana; Mamadou Cissokho, Honorary President, ROPPA (Network of West African Farmers’ Organizations; Samuel Bruce-Olivier Director, Partnership and Capacity Strengthening Division, AfricaRice CGIAR Research Centre; Ada Osakwe, Chief Executive, Agrolay Ventures, Nigeria; and Adolfo Brizzi, Director, PTA, IFAD.