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Violence Deals Blow to Ivory Coast Economy & Beyond
Burned, looted shops dot the commercial capital. European airlines have suspended flights. And only a few ships remain in what was one of West Africa's busiest ports. The latest outburst of violence in Ivory Coast has dealt a serious - and some say irreparable - blow to the world's top cocoa producer and regional economic powerhouse, chasing away many of the foreign business owners and managers critical to its development and stability. Ivory Coast accounts for 40 percent of economic production in French-speaking West Africa and is the site of two key ports. Its cocoa and coffee plantations provide employment to at least 4 million workers from impoverished neighboring countries; other sectors employ as many as 4 million more immigrants. The harm goes beyond Ivory Coast's borders. Instability here and in Sudan is having a "ripple effect" across Africa - frightening investors away from stable countries like Senegal and Mali, Anne Miroux of the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development said Monday at a conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Posted by: Mark Espinola 2004-11-23 |
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