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Ivory Coast
Index
The debt rescheduling and structural adjustment program
negotiated in 1988 afforded Côte d'Ivoire a respite from
burdensome
debt repayment. Nevertheless, the country's economic
future
remained cloudy. Timber production, which at other times
sustained
the economy when coffee and cocoa prices were weak, was
manifesting
the stark effects of overcutting. Houphouët-Boigny's
refusal to cut
producer prices for cocoa guaranteed continuing high
levels of
production and low prices on world markets, because Côte
d'Ivoire
was the world's leading cocoa producer. To diversify its
economy,
the country turned to other agricultural products like
palm and
coconut oils, tropical fruits, sugar, cotton, and rubber.
In none
of these products, however, did the country have as
commanding
position as it did with coffee or cocoa. Moreover, the
market in
tropical oils faced a potentially threat as
health-conscious
consumers in the United States demanded substitutes
thought to be
lower in saturated fats than were palm and coconut oils.
For many
of the other diversification crops, particularly sugar,
world
supply already surpassed demand, and Côte d'Ivoire would
be
competing with other Third World tropical countries
similarly
seeking to diversify economies heretofore dependent on
coffee and
cocoa. Finally, although the retrenchments mandated by the
IMF
affected all income groups in Côte d'Ivoire, they most
visibly
affected the young and poor, giving rise to crime, drug
problems,
and other manifestations of social dislocation, all of
which
demanded additional expenditures from the government. In
1987
government revenue losses from customs fraud alone,
especially in
the textiles sector, were estimated at approximately CFA
F200
billion (US$701 million) per year--or about one-third of
the
national budget. The path out of this downward spiral had
yet to be
discovered.
* *
*
Because of its apparently remarkable performance,
especially in
comparison to the economies of nearly all other
sub-Saharan African
countries, the economy of Côte d'Ivoire has a rich
bibliography.
General reference works like Europa's Africa South of
the
Sahara, African Contemporary Record, and
Encyclopedia
of the Third World provide important guidance.
Articles and
monographs by scholars such as Samir Amin, Bonnie
Campbell, Michael
A. Cohen, Lawrence R. Alschuler, I. William Zartman, and
Y.-A.
Fauré provide insightful, relevant, and sometimes highly
critical
analyses of Ivoirian economic growth. More detailed
information has
appeared in publications of international development
organizations
like the World Bank and various agencies of the United
Nations.
Publications of the government of Côte d'Ivoire and its
agencies
are also helpful. Several periodicals provide current
information,
particularly on debt negotiations. These include Africa
Research
Bulletin, Africa Economic Digest, Bulletin
de
l'Afrique noire, Marchés tropicaux et
méditerranéens,
the Economist Intelligence Unit's Country Report,
West
Africa, and Jeune Afrique. (For further
information and
complete citations,
see
Bibliography.)
Data as of November 1988
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