Côte d’Ivoire

Cote d'Ivoire was an economic success story in the first twenty years of independence, but a sharp reversal began in 1980 and by 1993 per capita incomes was back to... Show More + the level of 1960. Devaluation of the African Financial Community (CFA) franc triggered an economic rebound, but this was soon undermined by the political crisis beginning in 1999. Just as the economy was starting to move forward, a new crisis struck in early 2011, with considerable loss of life and assets. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth will be significantly negative in 2011, after 30 years of almost uninterrupted decline in per capita incomes and a rise in poverty from 10 percent in 1985 to 43 percent in 2008. The country is in urgent need of rapid and inclusive growth to reduce poverty, create jobs, provide hope for a better future, and help heal the wounds in the social fabric. The report devotes some attention to two key backbone services transport and telecommunications. The transport sector facilitates exports of goods, and access to essential imports, but also represents a service export in its own right (for neighboring land-locked countries). The focus here is on the 'soft' side of transport procedures, regulations and services which are often overlooked in favor of hard infrastructure investments. Improvements on the soft side are typically more cost-effective if only because they cost little or no money. Show Less -

The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD)/International Development Association (IDA) trust funds country report FY2009-FY2010 for Cote d'Ivoire... Show More + includes: disbursements, approvals, and pending requests. Show Less -

This country level trade brief summarizes insights from the world trade indicators database as well as analyzes national impacts and responses to the food crisis and... Show More + global recession. The trade at a glance tables for Cote d'Ivoire provide a snapshot of key aspects of trade policy and performance. Show Less -

The Africa Gas Initiative (AGI) has been established by the Oil and Gas Division of the World Bank, to promote the utilization of natural gas in Sub-Saharan Africa.... Show More + The study focuses on coastal countries - Angola, Cameroon, Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, and Gabon - along the West African coastline, and the Gulf of Guinea, where most of the region's gas reserves are located, and where significant proportions of the gas produced, is being wasted through flaring, or venting. Thus, the study's goal is to end gas flaring, by developing indigenous natural gas resources for local markets, and export, achieving economic benefits from gas substitution - through reduced imports, or increased exports of oil products - and, by improving environmental conditions at the local, and global levels. Under the AGI, technical assistance with regard to institutional, and regulatory framework was conducted in Cameroon, and Cote d'Ivoire, and, additionally, analysis of current petroleum fiscal legislation was undertaken, to review the profitability of gas field development from the investors' point of view. This analysis enabled recommendations to respective governments, to introduce required changes in their petroleum laws. Recommendations further include incentives to develop activities, particularly through rational price structures, removal of subsidies as the landed cost of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is progressively reduced, and fair competitive procedures, govern market accessibility. Show Less -

The Africa Gas Initiative (AGI) has been established by the Oil and Gas Division of the World Bank, to promote the utilization of natural gas in Sub-Saharan Africa.... Show More + The study focuses on coastal countries - Angola, Cameroon, Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, and Gabon - along the West African coastline, and the Gulf of Guinea, where most of the region's gas reserves are located, and where significant proportions of the gas produced, is being wasted through flaring, or venting. Thus, the study's goal is to end gas flaring, by developing indigenous natural gas resources for local markets, and export, achieving economic benefits from gas substitution - through reduced imports, or increased exports of oil products - and, by improving environmental conditions at the local, and global levels. Under the AGI, technical assistance with regard to institutional, and regulatory framework was conducted in Cameroon, and Cote d'Ivoire, and, additionally, analysis of current petroleum fiscal legislation was undertaken, to review the profitability of gas field development from the investors' point of view. This analysis enabled recommendations to respective governments, to introduce required changes in their petroleum laws. Recommendations further include incentives to develop activities, particularly through rational price structures, removal of subsidies as the landed cost of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is progressively reduced, and fair competitive procedures, govern market accessibility. Show Less -

The Africa Gas Initiative (AGI) has been established by the Oil and Gas Division of the World Bank, to promote the utilization of natural gas in Sub-Saharan Africa.... Show More + The study focuses on coastal countries - Angola, Cameroon, Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, and Gabon - along the West African coastline, and the Gulf of Guinea, where most of the region's gas reserves are located, and where significant proportions of the gas produced, is being wasted through flaring, or venting. Thus, the study's goal is to end gas flaring, by developing indigenous natural gas resources for local markets, and export, achieving economic benefits from gas substitution - through reduced imports, or increased exports of oil products - and, by improving environmental conditions at the local, and global levels. Under the AGI, technical assistance with regard to institutional, and regulatory framework was conducted in Cameroon, and Cote d'Ivoire, and, additionally, analysis of current petroleum fiscal legislation was undertaken, to review the profitability of gas field development from the investors' point of view. This analysis enabled recommendations to respective governments, to introduce required changes in their petroleum laws. Recommendations further include incentives to develop activities, particularly through rational price structures, removal of subsidies as the landed cost of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is progressively reduced, and fair competitive procedures, govern market accessibility. Show Less -

This note analyzes the organization, profitability, and financing of private mass transit services in Abidjan, with an emphasis on private companies, operating mini... Show More + buses commonly known as "gbakas". The Abidjan case study is part of a regional study launched early in 1999, under the urban mobility component of the Sub-Saharan Africa Transport Policy Program (SSATP), covering four cities: Abidjan, Bamako, Harare, and Nairobi, while the regional study was carried out by the Solidarite Internationale sur les Transports et la Recherche en Afrique Subsaharienne. (SITRASS). The note describes within an urban context, the transport system in Abidjan, with an increasingly peripheral population, and jobs located mainly in the city center. Nonetheless, it also analyzes the sector, and the obvious prospects for profitability, but under uncertain prospects for profitability. Show Less -

Upon the request of the World Bank, the Institute of Transport Economics, Norway did an appraisal of the road safety situation and road safety work in five African countries:... Show More + Benin, Cote d'Ivoire, Kenya, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. The overall objective of the evaluation was to identify key measures that would reduce fatalities, personal injuries, and material damage from road accidents in Africa. The information was collected through visits to the five countries. A report on the road safety situation of each country was then sent to the authorities responsible for road safety in each country, and their comments have been incorporated into the final report. A preliminary version of this report was presented at the Third African Road Safety Congress, April 1997. The report's findings include the following: Safety Congress. All five countries have accident data systems. Three countries admit that an unknown share of accidents are not recorded. The definition of a fatality varies from dead on- the-road to dead up to 30 days after the accident. Between 1968 and 1990 road fatalities in Africa increased by 350 percent. Without some action this increase will probably continue as the number of motor vehicles increases. The number of people killed and injured in road accidents relative to the population in most African countries has not yet reached the same level as Europe and North America; but, the rate of those killed and injured relative to the number of motor vehicles is extremely high in most African countries. During the last five years, the number of motor vehicles in the five countries has increased from 21 to 63 percent, road accidents from 15 to 70 percent, fatalities from 28 to 57 percent, and injuries from 27 to 89 percent. Pedestrians and public transport passengers are the largest groups among the fatalities, about 30-40 percent each. All five countries have national road safety councils, founded between 1972 and 1995. The objectives of the well. Foreign assistance is common. Road infrastructure is given first priority, and safety problems seem to be relegated to a second level. The road engineering measures, such as roundabouts or speed humps, generally known to reduce accidents, will likely have the same effect in developing countries as in highly motorized countries. Most countries face problems in financing road maintenance, and road safety may be compromised. Road signs are stolen or damaged, and replacement is costly and rarely carried out. Donors seem to have taken more interest in road maintenance lately, improving the chances for making road safety measures a part of road maintenance. The priority given to road safety aspects in road planning and maintenance reflects, to some degree, the priority of the donors rather than that of the recipient countries. Although there is some road safety publicity in all five countries, most countries lack adequate budgets for publicity. The road safety information campaigns are not evaluated, and their effect on road accidents is unknown. Two countries have compulsory driver training in private driving schools, and three countries have no compulsory driver training. All five countries face corruption in driver testing and license issuing, allowing unskilled drivers on the roads, and some countries have problems with forged licenses. The activities which seem to be functioning best are the accident recording systems, road engineering, and legislation. Legislation and engineering are important measures, and further extension and improvement of these measures still have a potential for reducing accidents. Organizational changes, funding, legislation amendments and enforcement are the most difficult activities to implement. Show Less -

The authors review a number of recent innovative rail concessions. Each country has approached its problems differently, and each provides different insights into what... Show More + can be achieved with concessions. But all the cases show that restructuring and substantial government investment in the design of a concession pay off. Concessionaires can do exactly what is expected-increase traffic, improve service, and enhance labor and asset efficiency if they are allowed to do so. A growing number of companies and consortiums are interested in investing in railway concessions if the concessions are offered on reasonable terms. And because both "positive" (where the concessionaire pays the government an agreed sum for the concession rights) and "negative" (where the government pays the concessionaire to operate and maintain the property) concessions are possible, loss-making but socially necessary services can also be concessioned. Perhaps the most important innovation in railway organization over the next few decades will be in the European Union. Regulatory changes have ignited a clear trend in the EU toward institutional separation of infrastructure from operations because infrastructure is seen as a state responsibility while operations (except for social services) are seen as commercial. One eventual result of institutional separation will be franchising or even privatization of most freight services and possibly intercity passenger services. Show Less -

The Ivory Coast experienced a series of external shocks in the last seven years which led to a severe deterioration of its financial position and to negative growth... Show More + since 1981. This occurred at a time when the growth potential of the country had declined and the ability of the economy to adjust was limited by distortions in the system of macroeconomic and sectoral incentives. To remedy this situation, the government has undertaken a program of stringent financial recovery and of structural adjustment, articulated around substantial policy reforms. This paper analyzes the short-term effects of various trade and incentive policies that can be envisaged within this program. The analysis is carried out through a series of comparative static experiments done in the framework of a computable general equilibrium model. Simulations are performed to assess the impact of exchange rate adjustments, tariff reform, the introduction of an export subsidy and, finally, removal of quantitative import restrictions. Show Less -