The Ivory Coast's transportation minister has said the West African nation's public transport sector has demanded replacing its fleet with cars made by the Iran-Khodro Company (IKCO), according to a report by the Fars News Agency.

Speaking during a visit to IKCO plants in Iran, Ivory Coast Transportation Minister Gaoussou Toure said that the IKCO producst were a "perfect match" for country's transport fleet renewal, noting that the country would like to replace over 50,000 vehicles with IKCO vehicles, especially the Samand as a taxi, according to the report.

Toure noted that the Ivory Coast could be considered as a "gate" for automakers to enter the car market in West Africa.