Cote d'Ivoire

Close ties to France since independence in 1960, the development of cocoa production for export, and foreign investment made Cote d'Ivoire (or "Ivory Coast") one of the most prosperous of the West African states, but did not protect it from political turmoil. In December 1999, a military coup - the first ever in Cote d'Ivoire's history - overthrew the government. Junta leader Robert GUEI blatantly rigged elections held in late 2000 and declared himself the winner. Popular protest forced him to step aside and brought Laurent GBAGBO into power. Ivorian dissidents and disaffected members of the military launched a failed coup attempt in September 2002. Rebel forces claimed the northern half of the country, and in January 2003 were granted ministerial positions in a unity government under the auspices of the Linas-Marcoussis Peace Accord. President GBAGBO and rebel forces resumed implementation of the peace accord in December 2003 after a three-month stalemate, but issues that sparked the civil war, such as land reform and grounds for citizenship, remained unresolved. In March 2007 President GBAGBO and former New Force rebel leader Guillaume SORO signed the Ouagadougou Political Agreement. As a result of the agreement, SORO joined GBAGBO's government as Prime Minister and the two agreed to reunite the country by dismantling the zone of confidence separating North from South, integrate rebel forces into the national armed forces, and hold elections. Disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration of rebel forces have been problematic as rebels seek to enter the armed forces. Citizen identification and voter registration pose election difficulties, and balloting planned for November 2009 was postponed with no future date set. Several thousand UN troops and several hundred French remain in Cote d'Ivoire to help the parties implement their commitments and to support the peace process.

Economical characteristics

 * Currency: West African CFA franc (ISO code: XOF)
 * This country does not seem to have a central bank.
 * Central bank discount rate: 4.75% (31 December 2008)
 * Commercial banks lending rate: NA%
 * Stock of money (M1): $4.242 billion (31 December 2008)
 * Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $2.117 billion (31 December 2008)

Notable events:

 * Banking crisis: 1988-1991
 * Public default: 1983-1998, 2000-2009 (external)
 * Years in inflation: 6% (share of years 1960-2009 with annual inflation above 20 per cent per annum)

Links

 * Cote d'Ivoire on Wikipedia
 * Country profile (pdf) from the Enterprise Studies page (part of the The World Bank Group)
 * BBC country profile
 * Central bank of Cote d'Ivoire
 * Ivorian tax-free rebel city flourishes by John James, January 2010