Côte d'Ivoire

Côte d'Ivoire became independent from French colonial rule in 1960. Until 1993 Houphouet-Boigny was president. His close association with the neighbouring countries and the West supported economical development and political stability. But economic crises broke out when the world market prices, on which Côte d'Ivoire heavily depended for its export, fell.

capital: Yamoussoukro
population: 18,7 million

Stable til crisis
In 1999 and 2001 two coups took place which resulted in severe civil crises and destabilisation. Civil war broke out between the South, representing the government's troops, and North, representing the Forces Nouvelles. Despite agreed cease-fires, fighting continued. Mainly in the cocoa growing northern provinces. Current president Laurent Gbagbo signed a peace agreement with the rebels from the North in March and general elections are to be held in 2008.

Extraction
Cocoa is the country's principal export commodity and worth over $2 billion US Dollars. Although it brings in about a 100 times more foreign exchange than diamonds, the diamond and oil industry play a great economic role. The south holds important offshore oil fields, producing 4557 million tons per year and gaining 2,009 million US$ per year. Diamond production averaged around 250.000 carats per day, generating annual export revenues of 25 $ million to 30$ US Dollar. Officials estimate 25.000 to 40.000 miners working in alluvial fields. Companies operating inCôte d'Ivoire were/ are Australian Carnegie Minerals and UK-based Golden Star.

Mainly diamonds and oil
The most important mining products are diamonds and oil. Besides these products the agricultural natural resources and leading export commodities are cocoa, coffee, timber, pineapples, palm oil and rubber.

Activities against rebel financing
For quite a while UN officials and political analysts did not regard diamonds as an important source for rebel financing unlike taxes put on coffee, cocoa and timber. The UN Panel of Expert Reports on the contrary confirmed the opposite. It stated that the Force Nouvelles rebels are responsible for security in the diamond rich areas and appeared to be enriching themselves. A license system is not in place as artisinal mining was officially banned. However Artisinal Mining continued clandestinely and lawlessness spread in the mining areas. In order to restore law and order the ban was lifted and a tax of 20% was imposed. Originally imposed to legalise artisinal mining and to finance state household the tax was collected by the Force Nouvelles to finance its rebel movement.