Ivory Coast: Christine Logbo-Kossi, committed to gender mainstreaming in the mines

In Ivory Coast, Christine Logbo-Kossi advocates for gender mainstreaming in the mining sector. Founder of the Network of Women in the Mining Sector of Ivory Coast (FEMICI) in 2015, since 2018 she has been the General Manager of the Professional Group of Miners of Ivory Coast (GPMCI). The same year, she was ranked among the 100 most inspiring women in the mining industry worldwide by the organization “Women in Mining”.

Christine Logbo-Kossi joined the Ivorian mining sector in 2011, a still male-dominated environment, after having worked for 7 years for the Association of Communication Agencies of Ivory Coast. Within a few years, she was able to impact the mining sector, despite not having a background in geology.

Trained in communication, public relations and international cooperation, she took her first steps in the mining sector as Executive Secretary of the Professional Group of Miners of Ivory Coast (GPMCI) in 2011, an employers’ organization bringing together mining companies in Ivory Coast. In 2014, she became the Executive Director of GPMCI and contributed to “giving a strong and inevitable voice to private mining operators in Ivory Coast”.

After noting the low representation of women in the mining sector and mainly in decision-making positions, she created in 2015 the Network of Women in the Mining Sector of Ivory Coast (FEMICI). The organization aims, among other things, to give a voice to women in the sector, to attract others and to work to ensure gender mainstreaming in the sustainable development of the mining sector. It also works for the implementation of provisions (mining code, laws and regulations) favourable to the empowerment of women in the mining sector. 

The network also carries out awareness-raising activities in schools with young girls and institutions so that women are taken into account in this sector. In 2018, she defended the interests of women in the extractive sector in West Africa on the Board of Directors of the African Association of Women in the Extractive Sector (AWIMA). In June 2018, she became the Managing Director of GPMCI. 

The same year, she was named one of the 100 most inspiring women in the mining industry worldwide. She was also co-opted by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) Advisory Committee in partnership with Global Affairs Canada to implement a seven-year (2017-2023) local economic development program in Africa based on the extractive industries.

Christine Logbo-Kossi holds two masters degrees, respectively in international cooperation and solidarity and business administration from the University of Evry and ESSEC in France. She is currently doing an Executive Master in Strategic Unit Management at HEC Paris.