Which brings us to Cote D’Ivoire: The Conundrum of A Still Wretched of the Earth
There are two aspects to the story that are interesting to the very casual observer. The first is that the country is often known as Ivory Coast but that the government prefers the French version of the name. This is a former French colony, and France was active in trying to stabilize the country during its ongoing crisis. The second is that Cote d’Ivoire had an issue with illegal immigration. In the U.S., we tend to think that this is exclusively our issue, that everyone is trying to get into the U.S. but not into other countries. That’s not at all true. People move across borders for all sorts of reasons: love; adventure; security; opportunity. Although Cote d’Ivoire is a poor nation, with a GDP per capita of $1800, that’s more than some of its neighbors. Furthermore, the economy is growing. That brings people over the line.
The immigration issue is important because it fueled suspicions of outside influence and improper voting in the Ivoirian crisis. “Ivoirite” was the word used to describe the country’s people and culture, but it also led to people being removed from the voting rolls and government offices if they could not prove that they had been born in Cote d’Ivoire.
So what are we left with? Civil war, U.N. deployment, attempts by France, South Africa, and Burkina Faso to negotiate peace, delayed elections, contested elections, and assassination attempts. It’s still going on, too.
Many Africans are tired of stories about the sorrow of Africa. And yet, I keep reading all these stories of heartbreak and suffering. I’m looking for good stories, but instead, I find these books like this, depressing timelines put out by the BBC, and sad economic statistics from the CIA. The investors who seem to have benefited the most are French multinationals; it’s pretty risky for everyone else.
