Resource information
Cote d'Ivoire was an economic
success story in the first twenty years of independence, but
a sharp reversal began in 1980 and by 1993 per capita
incomes was back to the level of 1960. Devaluation of the
African Financial Community (CFA) franc triggered an
economic rebound, but this was soon undermined by the
political crisis beginning in 1999. Just as the economy was
starting to move forward, a new crisis struck in early 2011,
with considerable loss of life and assets. Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) growth will be significantly negative in 2011,
after 30 years of almost uninterrupted decline in per capita
incomes and a rise in poverty from 10 percent in 1985 to 43
percent in 2008. The country is in urgent need of rapid and
inclusive growth to reduce poverty, create jobs, provide
hope for a better future, and help heal the wounds in the
social fabric. The report devotes some attention to two key
backbone services transport and telecommunications. The
transport sector facilitates exports of goods, and access to
essential imports, but also represents a service export in
its own right (for neighboring land-locked countries). The
focus here is on the 'soft' side of transport
procedures, regulations and services which are often
overlooked in favor of hard infrastructure investments.
Improvements on the soft side are typically more
cost-effective if only because they cost little or no money.
