News friom where there is nothing to see

It’s a bit of an old joke about the Cote d’Ivoire. The adjective Ivoirien in French sounds very like the phrase on n’y voit rien – or there is nothing to be seen there.

 Well according to many commentators, amongst them Professor Paul Collier, the Cote d’Ivoire should be one of Africa’s success stories, chortling away as it drags its people out of penury towards something like prosperity. Its economy, though heavily dependant on agriculture, is diversified and export driven. It does not suffer from one of Professor Collier’s curses – being landlocked. (Compare the Cote d’Ivoire’s recent volatility with that of resource-cursed but landlocked Burkina Faso.)

 Recent events there show how vulnerable it is to some of the other intangible curses mentioned by Professor Collier, not east elections. These don’t solve anything; they merely cement regional and tribal divisions. In most instances the opposition usually cries foul, claiming immense ballot rigging.  This does nothing to establish harmony or political legitimacy. The rigging, when it takes place, is often the result of poor infrastructure, and incomplete voter lists. Occasionally it is of the brazen type practised by Cote d’Ivoire’s leader Laurent Gbagbo, who uses a compliant constitutional court to nullify a large tranche of votes for his opponent so as to assure himself of victory.

 With leaders prepared to use such tactics to hang on to power, what hope does Cote d’Ivoire’s people having of ever escaping from the grip of poverty?