Côte D'ivoire Mali
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
COUNTRY PROFILE 2000 Côte d’Ivoire Mali This Country Profile is a reference tool, which provides analysis of historical political, infrastructural and economic trends. It is revised and updated annually. The EIU’s quarterly Country Reports analyse current trends and provide a two-year forecast. The full publishing schedule for Country Profiles is now available on our website at http://www.eiu.com/schedule The Economist Intelligence Unit 15 Regent St, London SW1Y 4LR United Kingdom The Economist Intelligence Unit The Economist Intelligence Unit is a specialist publisher serving companies establishing and managing operations across national borders. For over 50 years it has been a source of information on business developments, economic and political trends, government regulations and corporate practice worldwide. The EIU delivers its information in four ways: through subscription products ranging from newsletters to annual reference works; through specific research reports, whether for general release or for particular clients; through electronic publishing; and by organising conferences and roundtables. The firm is a member of The Economist Group. London New York Hong Kong The Economist Intelligence Unit The Economist Intelligence Unit The Economist Intelligence Unit 15 Regent St The Economist Building 25/F, Dah Sing Financial Centre London 111 West 57th Street 108 Gloucester Road SW1Y 4LR New York Wanchai United Kingdom NY 10019, US Hong Kong Tel: (44.20) 7830 1000 Tel: (1.212) 554 0600 Tel: (852) 2802 7288 Fax: (44.20) 7499 9767 Fax: (1.212) 586 1181/2 Fax: (852) 2802 7638 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Website: http://www.eiu.com Electronic delivery This publication can now be viewed by subscribing online at http://store.eiu.com/brdes.html Reports are also available in various other electronic formats, such as CD-ROM, Lotus Notes, on-line databases and as direct feeds to corporate intranets. For further information, please contact your nearest Economist Intelligence Unit office London: Jan Frost Tel: (44.20) 7830 1183 Fax: (44.20) 7830 1023 New York: Alexander Bateman Tel: (1.212) 554 0600 Fax: (1.212) 586 1181 Hong Kong: Amy Ha Tel: (852) 2802 7288/2585 3888 Fax: (852) 2802 7720/7638 Copyright © 2000 The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited. All rights reserved. Neither this publication nor any part of it may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited. All information in this report is verified to the best of the author’s and the publisher’s ability. However, the EIU does not accept responsibility for any loss arising from reliance on it. ISSN 1351-0576 Symbols for tables “n/a” means not available; “–” means not applicable Printed and distributed by Redhouse Press Ltd, Unit 151, Dartford Trade Park, Dartford, Kent DA1 1QB, UK Comparative economic indicators, 1999 EIU Country Profile 2000 © The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2000 1 April 1st 2000 Contents Côte d’Ivoire 4 Basic data 5 Political background 5 Historical background 9 Constitution and institutions 9 Political forces 12 International relations and defence 13 Resources and infrastructure 13 Population 14 Education and health 16 Natural resources and the environment 17 Transport and communications 19 Energy provision 21 The economy 22 Economic structure 23 Economic policy 24 Economic performance 26 Economic sectors 26 Agriculture, forestry and fishing 29 Mining and semi-processing 30 Manufacturing 31 Financial services 32 Other services 33 The external sector 33 Trade in goods 35 Invisibles and the current account 36 Capital flows and foreign debt 37 Foreign reserves and the exchange rate 38 Appendices 38 Sources of information 39 Reference tables 39 Population 40 Transport: Port of Abidjan traffic 40 Electricity production and consumption 40 Petroleum consumption 41 Government finances 41 Money, credit and interest rates 42 Gross domestic product © The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2000 EIU Country Profile 2000 2 42 Gross domestic product by expenditure 43 Gross domestic product by sector 43 Consumer price inflation 43 Producer prices for selected commoditiesa 44 Food crop production 44 Production of main cash crops 44 Gold, oil and gas production 44 Manufacturing production 45 Foreign trade 45 Main trading partners 46 Balance of payments, IMF estimates 47 Net official development assistancea 48 External debt, World Bank estimates 48 Foreign reserves 49 Exchange rates Mali 50 Basic data 51 Political background 51 Historical background 53 Constitution and institutions 54 Political forces 55 International relations and defence 57 Resources and infrastructure 57 Population 58 Education 58 Health 58 Natural resources and the environment 59 Transport and communications 59 Energy provision 60 The economy 60 Economic structure 61 Economic policy 61 Economic performance 61 Regional trends 64 Economic sectors 64 Agriculture, forestry and fishing 66 Mining and semi-processing 68 Manufacturing 68 Construction 68 Financial services 69 Other services EIU Country Profile 2000 © The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2000 3 69 The external sector 69 Trade in goods 70 Invisibles and the current account 71 Capital flows and foreign debt 72 Foreign reserves and the exchange rate 73 Regional organisations 77 Sources of information 79 Reference tables 79 Government finances 89 Money supply 80 Gross domestic product by expenditure 80 Consumer price inflation 80 Agricultural output 80 Livestock numbers 81 Manufacturing production 81 Foreign trade 81 Main trading partners 82 Balance of payments, IMF estimates 83 External debt, World Bank estimates 84 Net official development assistancea 84 Foreign reserves 85 Exchange rates © The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2000 EIU Country Profile 2000 4 Côte d’Ivoire Côte d’Ivoire Basic data Land area 322,463 sq km Population 14.5m (mid-1999; UN estimate) Main towns Population in ‘000 (1996) Abidjan (capital) 2,500 Bouaké 460 Yamoussoukro 190 Daloa 170 Climate Tropical Weather in Abidjan Hottest months, February-April, 24-32°C (average daily minimum and (altitude 20 metres) maximum); coldest month, August, 22-28°C; driest month, January, 41 mm average rainfall; wettest month, June, 495 mm average rainfall Languages French, Baoulé and other local languages Measures Metric system Currency CFA franc=100 centimes; CFAfr100:FFr1; CFAfr656:¤1. average exchange rate in 1999: CFAfr615.70:$1; exchange rate on March 15th, 2000: CFAfr676.2:$1 Financial year January-December Time GMT Public holidays, 2000 January 1st, Eid el Fitr (January 7th-10th), Tabaski (March 17th), Easter Monday (April 24th), Labour day (May 1st), Ascension Day (June 1st), Whit Monday (June 12th), Prophet’s birthday (June 15th), Independence Day (August 7th) All Saints’ Day (November 1st), National Day (December 7th), December 25th EIU Country Profile 2000 © The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2000 Côte d’Ivoire 5 Political background The bloodless coup of December 24th 1999 put an abrupt end to what was considered one of the most stable political structures in Sub-Saharan Africa. Elected in 1995, the ousted president, Henri Konan Bédié, purported to be the legitimate successor of Félix Houphouët-Boigny, the father of the nation who brought the country to independence in 1960 and remained head-of-state until his death in 1993. It was Mr Houphouët-Boigny who also founded the Parti démocratique de Côte d’Ivoire (PDCI), the ruling party, which was to dominate the country’s political life for four decades, despite the installation of a multi- party system in 1990. The head of the military junta, General Robert Guéï, set up a transition government in January 2000 and promised a return to civilian rule by end-2000. Historical background A peaceful transition to In pre-colonial times, the territory of present-day Côte d’Ivoire was independence inhospitable to the sea-borne European traders, because of the dense, thinly populated tropical forest stretching hundreds of kilometres inland from the Atlantic. There was little European interest in the interior before the mid-19th century. Northern Côte d’Ivoire, largely savannah, and Muslim, historically fell under the tutelage of the Guinean kingdoms, which periodically exerted control over much of modern Mali, Guinea and Niger. French influence grew after 1893, when the colony of Côte d’Ivoire was officially established. The potential of the country’s rich agricultural and forestry resources came to be realised with the building of a railway through Côte d’Ivoire into present-day Burkina Faso, and by the late 1940s, Côte d’Ivoire had replaced Senegal as France’s richest colony in West Africa. Félix Houphouët- Côte d’Ivoire became independent in August 1960, with the francophile Félix Boigny’s rule Houphouët-Boigny, a successful cocoa farmer and a former minister in the French government, as president. By making the most of his carefully cultivated personal relations with successive French governments, as much as through skilful economic and political management, Mr Houphouët-Boigny came to dominate the country’s political life, and in the 1960s and 1970s presided over Côte d’Ivoire’s emergence as one of Africa’s few stable and economically successful countries. Mr Houphouët-Boigny’s ruling party, the Parti démocratique de Côte d’Ivoire (PDCI), became similarly dominant. There was remarkably little internal