Vol 52 No 19 | CÔTE D'IVOIRE Economy recovers, security wobbles 23rd September 2011 A post-war boom has started but there is big concern about the forthcoming parliamentary elections President Alassane Dramane Ouattara is earning international praise and strong flows of cash for reconstruction. Yet as he enters the second half of his first year in office,...
Vol 52 No 18 | CÔTE D'IVOIRE Bringing peace to the military 9th September 2011 Gbagbo’s party has all but collapsed but an unruly coalition of poorly disciplined soldiers is a serious challenge Laurent Koudou Gbagbo’s previously ruling Front Populaire Ivoirien (FPI) has quickly followed its master into obscurity and irrelevance since he was ousted on 11 April. The same cannot...
Vol 52 No 18 | CÔTE D'IVOIRE Gbagbo: France’s part in his downfall 9th September 2011 The French Licorne force played a decisive role in the United Nations’ storming of the presidential palace and the capture of ex-President Laurent Gbagbo. French troops took few...
Vol 52 No 16 | CÔTE D'IVOIRE 100 days of ADO 5th August 2011 Fêted in Washington and Paris, Ouattara faces tough questions about stability and politics at home Security jitters and financial worries have haunted President Alassane Dramane Ouattara’s first 100 days, suggesting he is yet to entrench himself in office after a bloody six-month stand-off...
Vol 52 No 11 | CÔTE D'IVOIRE Cocoa holds the key 27th May 2011 President Ouattara needs to stop the smuggling and bring the soldiers under control After his grand inauguration at Yamoussoukro on 21 May and pronouncements on the need for Ivorians to reconcile and rebuild the country, one of new President Alassane Dramane...
Vol 52 No 11 | CÔTE D'IVOIRESENEGAL Peace in Côte d’Ivoire, relief for Dakar 27th May 2011 President Abdoulaye Wade warmly welcomed Ivorian President Alassane Dramane Ouattara’s victory at the polls. The two are politically close, which excluded Wade as a mediator during the subsequent...
Vol 52 No 10 | CÔTE D'IVOIREANALYSIS Stabilisation now, reconciliation later 13th May 2011 Ouattara is a strong Western ally but his national skills are more of an unknown quantity as he tries to reconcile his own fractious forces as well as Gbagbo’s loyalists. With Gbagbo confined in the north under UN guard and his forces demoralised or captured, the new president has signalled his seriousness by not allowing his staff any time off, despite having spent four months trapped in the Golf Hotel. ADO's woes The difficulties facing President Alassane Dramane Ouattara (‘ADO’) in reconciling former enemies emerged again in the 6 May inauguration ceremony. In his acceptance speech, he praised...
Vol 52 No 10 | CÔTE D'IVOIRE Coulibaly: Death of a rebel 13th May 2011 The death of Ibrahim Coulibaly (‘IB’), a former commander with the Forces Nouvelles, points to the difficulties of establishing a new security order in Côte d’Ivoire. IB died...
Vol 52 No 8 | CÔTE D'IVOIREWEST AFRICA A resolution in Abidjan 15th April 2011 The military ousting of Gbagbo will have repercussions across Africa The armed eviction of Laurent Gbagbo from the Ivorian presidency by a coalition of opposition, United Nations and French forces together with the organisation of national elections in...
Vol 52 No 6 | CÔTE D'IVOIRE Guns, votes and cocoa 18th March 2011 Laurent Gbagbo’s military position is weakening as business friends help him to break his rival’s ban on cocoa exports Trade sources in Moscow and London report that business allies of Laurent Gbagbo have begun exporting cocoa out of the port of San Pedro in defiance of President-elect...