Cote d’Ivoire Deep Dive Part II: Françafrique, liberal state capitalism and socio-ethnic tensions
Welcome back to this four-part Deep Dive into Cote d’Ivoire. In Part I, we considered Cote d’Ivoire’s history pre-colonisation and how French administration changed the country’s fabric and laid the seeds for its future into the latter half of the 20th century.
In Part II, we focus on understanding Cote d’Ivoire’s post-independence period. Cote d’Ivoire’s journey occurred in the broad context of French colonial rule in Africa, with the economies and social fabrics of its former colonies indelibly shaped by the French experience.
We can observe two distinct trajectories:
- Countries that joined the socialist movement and adopted an anti-imperialist philosophy focused on developing their human stack (infrastructure, education, health…)
- Countries that adopted a liberal development based on opening to Western markets, foreign investments and private sector development.
These represent very good case studies to analyse the consequences of liberalism/neoliberalism and Keynesianism. But let us focus on Mr Houphouët-Boigny to understand better the trajectory taken by Cote d’Ivoire and its consequences on the country today.
Dia Houphouët-Boigny’s long and lingering relationship with French-controlled Cote d’Ivoire
As the nephew to the chief of a small Baoulé tribe near Yamoussoukro, Young Dia Houphouët-Boigny had the privilege of attending colonial administration schooling, attending the Bingerville superior school, where he converted to Christianity and adopting Félix as a surname to the West Africa medicine school in Dakar where he became a physician.
His background would eventually allow him to become a leading political force under French rule as the leader of his Baoulé tribe and one of the most important farmers in the country. He founded the Agricultural Union in 1944, joined the French Assembly in 1945 and finally became a French Administrator in Cote d’Ivoire during the 1950s. Eventually, the end of the Second World War and the wind of decolonisation that followed allowed Felix Houphouët-Boigny to become the first president of the independent Republic of Cote d’Ivoire.
Even so, the country’s independence is written in half-truths. Félix Houphouet-Boigny’s personal experience and his past as a political leader within the colonial power structure, added to the fact that he never hid his “regrets” at leaving “the great French family”, are evidence…
You can read the full story here.
Abderrahmane Chaoui is an African ecosystem researcher, consultant, and writer.
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