A region affected by the traffic of cocaine

As every country of West Africa, Ivory Coast has to deal with a new threat : massive drug traffic. Indeed, more and more cocaine passes through West Africa before joining the European market.
Indeed, the direct route from South America to Europe is highly controlled while the consumption of drug in Europe is increasing, contrary to the American consumption. Then, the narco-traffickers have to find new ways. The African route has several advantages for criminals.

Drugs caught being destroyed

First, the police is very weak : very few agents, few arms and unadapted building. Moreover, the corruption rate is high in Africa. Then, even when they are caught, trafficker have high chances not to have any punishment, because there is no prison where to keep them or because an officer ask to deliver them. Because of poverty, governments are not willing to stop this traffic. Richer countries, like Ivory Coast, may be less corrupted but they have more infrastructures, making the traffic easier. Then to go against that phenomenon, international cooperation is being created. European countries and the United Nations send men and arms to the western African countries but it is not enough compared with the importance of the traffic.

Furthermore, West Africa is ideally located for such a traffic. From South America, it is the nearest destination over the Atlantic Ocean and it is just under the soft belt of Europe. Thus, narco-traffickers send huge quantities of cocaine to West Africa by boats or by planes. There, they split the packs so that it would be easier to pass the European boarders with them.

The ideal way for narco-traffickers

However, while a huge amount of cocaine is passing by West Africa, very little is consumed is that part of the world.

Floriane

Sources :

• https://www.unodc.org/westandcentralafrica/en/cote-d-ivoire.html
• http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/11/magazine/11Trade-t.html?pagewanted=all&_r=2&
• http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/09/21/africa.drug.cartels/index.html?eref=edition
• http://www.csmonitor.com/1987/0319/odrug.html

French in Ivory Coast - The new mother tongue

Besides it is the official language of the country, French has become, through the 54 years since the independance, the mother tongue of a large part of the population of Ivory Coast. Contrary to what one might think, Ivorian managed to appropriate the language. Actually, in 1985, the government decided that the french name of the country, has to be used in every language (1). Therefore, this blog should be called Côte d'Ivoire! Moreover, a significant example is what one Ivorian friend of mine once told me : "On parle bien mieux français en Côte d'Ivoire qu'en France" We speak far better French in Ivory Coast than in France. So that in fact, this language has not any colonial implication anymore.

More factual : the Dakar summit of the OIF (Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie) published an instructive report (2) about the global situation of French. This report teaches us that more than 7.2 million of Ivorian are francophone (in other words : able to read and have a conversation in French). This represents more than a third of the population which is quite huge compared for instance to what is usually considered as an English speakers country : India. As a matter of fact, only 9% (4) of the country population is considered as English speaker.

Figures aside, French has also become a language of culture. First and foremost, almost all the national media are french speaking. Then several artists use french to express their art. Some, such as Magic System, even became famous in french speaking Europe (whether you like it or not). And as it is a way of expressing art and culture, it is an alive and moving language which gave birth to what is called Nouchi (5), a french-based creole. That creole largely contributes to make French become more Ivorian.

Eventually, as Ivory Coast is becoming a leading country of the African Francophonie, French is to be more and more influent in the Ivorian politics. Therefore it can be thought that French is about to become more and more essential in Côte d'Ivoire.

Romain

(1) http://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/C%C3%B4te_d%E2%80%99Ivoire
(2) http://www.francophonie.org/IMG/pdf/oif_synthese_francais.pdf
(3) http://www.rfi.fr/afrique/20141127-infographie-francophonie-afrique-ocean-indien-2014/
(4) http://www.indiatribune.com/index.php?option=com_content&id=9705:india-worlds-second-largest-english-speaking-country&Itemid=471
(5) http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ais_de_C%C3%B4te_d%27Ivoire

Ivory coast, a welcoming land?

Ivory coast had long been a welcoming country for migrants. Indeed, its cocoa and coffee plantations were prosperous and the country needed workforce. Then, people from Burkina Faso, Malians and others Africans came to work there, participating to the economy of the all region.

In 2002, the first attacks from the rebels abolished that era. There was no more free circulation of people. While before those attacks you just had to show your ID card to enter the country, fear of foreigners was established. Then, when migrants did not go back to their country of origin by their own decision, they were called back by the governments. Two civil wars followed. During that period, Ivory coast was not attractive for migrants.

In 2011, the conflict ended with the arrest of Laurent Gbagbo and the election of Alassane Ouattara.  Because, Ivory Coast is more or less steady politically, it is again an attractive land for migrants. Indeed, even if the situation is not perfect, it has improved since 2011 and it is worse in the neighboring countries. Moreover, Ivory Coast has a dynamic economy. Then, in 2013, the country had 12% of immigrants.

Floriane

Sources :

• https://www.iom.int/cms/en/sites/iom/home/where-we-work/africa-and-the-middle-east/central-and-west-africa/cocircte-divoire.html
• http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/23/world/life-in-ivory-coast-once-an-oasis-now-unsettles-immigrants.html
• http://publications.iom.int/bookstore/free/Cote_Profile_2009.pdf
• http://en.wikipedia.org

The upcoming presidential election : towards greater stability or back into political turmoil ?

Ivory Coast's next presidential election is to be held in October 2015. Is the country ready ? Has enough stability been regained since the last political crisis so that the result of this election will not be disputed, as it was in 2010 ? Unfortunately, since the country gained independence from France in 1960, the implementation of the democratic process has been somewhat modest, to say the least. Indeed, in over 50 years the country has known only four different presidents :  the first one, Félix Houphouët-Boigny, ruled the country for 33 years in a single-party system -the party being quite ironically called the Democratic Party of Ivory Coast (PDCI)- until he died in 1993 ; the next one was overthrown by a military coup, then Laurent Gbagbo of the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) came to power, and asserted his authority against rebels rallied to Alassane Ouattara's Rally of the Republicans (RDR) in a political and military conflict which lasted five years, from 2002 to 2007.

     Laurent Gbagbo, happy as he raises his thumbs up

One may think that Ouattara was in the wrong as he defied the authority of the position which he seeked and now holds, but it needs to be told that he was shunned from power by a set of discriminatory laws passed by his predecessors which forbade him from running for president because of his origins (Ouattara is from the North of a country, home of a different ethnic group than that of Gbabgo's, for instance). The conflict led to the death of thousands of Ivorian citizens : after 33 years of dictature, the concept of citizenship and democracy began to painstakingly settle in. The conflict was put to an end thanks to the intervention of the UN forces and the French forces of the Opération Licorne who enforced the truce while an agreement was found : Gbagbo was to remain in power with Ouattara as Prime Minister until the next elections in 2010.

                               Ouattara, who does not look amused

These elections took place under the scrutiny of an independent commission and that of the Counstitutional Council of Ivory Coast, in favor of Gbagbo. It opposed outgoing president Gbagbo and Ouattara, who won with a comfortable advance (54,1% accorded to the independent commission, whose opinion was supported by the UN). The Constitutional Council however gave Gbagbo winner, and thus another conflict ensued. France and the UN intervened again, trying to keep the peace, and setting Ouattara as president. But Gbagbo gave orders to arrest Ouattara, and triggered a civil war which caused 3000 deaths. Gbagbo was therefore arrested and jailed in La Haye, where he will be tried next July for crimes against humanity.

One can understand why the upcoming election is worrisome : there has never been any peaceful transition in the country. One can only hope that since Gbagbo is out of the game the old grugdes will be overcome : but it turns out that even though he is imprisoned, Gbagbo is still running the FPI and still receives support from politicians who fight for his release. The political struggle does not look over. The only hope is that if the next results are to be contested, at least the conflict will only be political and that there will be no bloodshed. Perhaps France should take pre-emptive action in order to maintain the peace, but that would be perceived as political interference and a reminder of colonial times... The Ivorians are on their own, but this election may be the first towards an era of greater stability for the country.

Marius

Sources :
http://news.abidjan.net/h/517456.html
http://news.abidjan.net/h/517449.html
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crise_politico-militaire_en_C%C3%B4te_d%27Ivoire

Ivorian Cuisine

If you were asked to cite some countries that are highly reputed for their meals, names that might pop up to your mind might include France, Italy, Japan, perhaps Morocco or China. Well ? Is that all? You ought to consider adding Ivory Coast to that list.

Ivorian cuisine may not be famous throughout the globe but it is actually delicious and has a great variety of dishes. This variety is of course due to the melting pot phenomena, the mixing of cultures and people always results in interesting  culinary creations. So Akwaba (Welcome) to a new cooking world  made of alloco, foutou and even kédjennou !

If you go to Ivory Coast, one thing that you will eat is kédjennou. It is a traditional recipe with shrimps most of the time made with chicken. The word kédjennou refers to stirring. No surprise that the secret to a good kédjennou resides in the stirring of the canari (kind of bowl) in which the chicken is gently cooking. Doing so will result in a good homogenous mixture which is key to a successful dish.

It is very likely to find some foutou along with this dish. Foutou is a sort of ball made with manioc or yam accompanied with a sauce which has quite a distinctive taste. I would recommend the gnangnan sauce  which is made with the gnangnan plant.

 Language is not the only common thing between France and Ivory Coast : both are countries in which snails are considered delicious ! If you feel like being ripped off every time you eat some "petits gris de Bourgogne" because you don't get enough well you will be served by the XXL Ivorian version of them. Meet the Giant African snail before it meets your stomach !

Of course you need to have to have a strong stomach to be able to eat those but hey why not ? One of the most common ways of preparing them is with tomatoes, onions and peppers ! But what is always great with snails is that they can be prepared in all kinds of ways including the most famous "Tarte fine d'escargots aux girolles" which might sound more appealing.

Still hungry ? Why not try some alloco ! Allowhat ? Alloco ! Made from fried cooking plantains (basically : bananas), alloco can be bought almost anywhere in Ivory Coast and it a very common type of snack.

See ? Now you can surely add Ivory Coast to that list.

Sébastien.

http://cuisine.abidjan.net/recette.asp?RecetteID=22235
http://www.recette-afrique.fr/2011/03/la-veritable-recette-de-kedjenou-de.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achatina_fulica
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3ioOIB_IybeOfNase4_pcez12S5y-XHpTRIaDM4i5EOR21yqAoknyt7ARFZ52uhjf4TITsFuIWBQYVgQruQ7dcQ5B1h3bHTXGhgvWUCUHEAWzYqxu5q-yxnar8adNku1UuKhYLoorzq7-/s400/grosescargot.jpg
http://files.moguldom.net/sites/21/2013/08/alloco1.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/Kedjenou.JPG

Ivory Coast : Development Vs. Environment

Ivory Coast might not strike you as a country with vast biodiversity unlike let's say, New Zealand. However, like many other countries in the African Continent, Ivory Coast is a place where forests cover about a third of the land area and these are ideal for the well being of numerous species, especially endangered monkeys. 

Ivory Coast's bane in terms of environment is deforestation. Indeed, with a rate of 0.1% deforestation rate (halving from 6M ha to 3M ha from 1920 to 2007 the surface covered by forests), it is now considered that 49 tree species are "vulnerable" and 5 are endangered or critically endangered. Reasons for deforestation are of course logging and replacing the trees by other, more useful types in terms of development.

In terms of fauna, the most emblematic species is of course the elephant which gave the country its name. While it used to be abundant, it is now also endangered because of repeated poaching for its ivory tusks. This resembles the story of the dodo, which now is the symbol of Mauritius as it became extinct because of man. As a result, Ivorian elephants can now only be seen in parks and some remote places in forests.

These two are only examples of some of the species that are threatened by extinction. Still, Ivory Coast's government has decided to take measures in order to prevent this ongoing process. Some of its plans have met with great success such as the return of animals into wildlife like the giraffe and the black rhinoceros. There are now as many as eight national parks and over 300 nature reserves thanks to the government's initiatives.

So, it can be seen that Ivory Coast is a good example of the struggle between preserving the environment and development as the latter often depends on logging. As a result, species become endangered and then governments have to take action in order to restore what has been destroyed. It has been the case in countless countries, such as Haiti or Brazil.

Sébastien.

http://rainforests.mongabay.com/20cotedivoire.htm

http://www.carbon-biodiversity.net/Content/ShortProfiles/Cote%20d'Ivoire%20Profile%20110408_final.pdf

http://ivorycoastseenbyfmrs.blogspot.fr/2014_11_01_archive.html

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%B4te_d%27Ivoire#Faune_et_flore 

Images :

http://www.amazingdata.com/Image/amazing_fun_ecology_2000059262172582463_rs_200907232055069718.jpg

http://www.natgeocreative.com/comp/02/766/1260701.jpg

http://www.geoado.com/files/elephant-ivoire-defenses.jpg

http://delhigreens.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/development-vs-envirnoment-300x230.jpg

Breaking News - Air France believes in Ivory Coast

It seems that after ten years of civil war, Ivory Coast is economically booming. As a matter of fact, confidence in the country has been recovered since Ouattara has been elected. After having raised more than 750 billion dollars last year on the financial market (50% more than expected), new signs of economic recovery are coming out - actually, Air France decided a few days ago to open its first A380 link with subsaharian Africa to Abidjan, a great sign of confidence in the country ability to become again a regional power alongside Ghana and Nigeria, and a major francophone country as it produces more than a third of the GPD of the UEMOA (West African Economic and Monetary Union), a francophone economic union.

Moreover, this is not the only exceptionnal advantage that Abidjan has - the country is also about to build the first urban train in subsaharian Africa in the economic capital city. This major building will create hundreds of employements and will constitute a great mean to favorise communication within a mushrooming city like Abidjan. And no surprise in there, this new means of transport will connect Abidjan Airport to the heart of the city. An initiative that will first and foremost benefit to the lower classes whose living places are often far away from their jobs in the economic heart of the city - Le Plateau.

No doubt, all these will help the country to develop itself and benefit to a major part of the population.

Romain

sources (french)

(1) http://economie.jeuneafrique.com/regions/afrique-subsaharienne/22611-la-cote-d-ivoire-leve-750-millions-de-dollars-sur-les-marches-internationaux.html
(2) http://www.la-croix.com/Actualite/Monde/La-Cote-d-Ivoire-decolle-l-Airbus-A380-y-atterrit-Une-economie-dynamique-2014-10-31-1257541
(3) http://news.abidjan.net/h/478643.html
(4) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpwOc_U2-e8 (urban train promotional video)