Ivory Coast's port of San Pedro is seeking 777 billion CFA francs ($1.65 billion) from private partners to fund upgrades that aim to make it one of West Africa's top shipping hubs, including for iron ore and nickel, the transport minister said. San Pedro is already the world's leading port for cocoa exports, shipping more than half of total output from Ivory Coast, the top producer of the chocolate ingredient. It also exports coffee, palm oil, timber and cotton. But the government of President Alassane Ouattara wants to make the port the centrepiece of an ambitious plan that would see more than 8 trillion CFA francs invested in the development of the country's predominantly agricultural western regions.