Our Man in Africa

Ivory Coast name 25 players for Africa Cup of Nations

2012-01-05T08:02:00.000-08:00

Link

Ivory Coast braces for parliamentary elections

2011-12-10T22:31:00.000-08:00

Link

Ivory Coast's Laurent Gbagbo appears at ICC in Hague

2011-12-05T08:30:00.000-08:00

Link

Gbagbo transfer to The Hague shocks supporters

2011-11-30T07:28:00.001-08:00

Link

In pictures: Abidjan's photo flash mob

2011-11-29T08:21:00.000-08:00

Link

Africa Sports win league title in Ivory Coast

2011-11-21T06:43:00.001-08:00

Link

In pictures: The return of fashion to Ivory Coast

2011-10-31T02:30:00.000-07:00

Link

Ivorians come home to rebuild their lives

2011-10-15T04:21:00.000-07:00

Link

Zouglou, from Abidjan's streets to academia

2011-09-28T07:37:00.000-07:00

Link

SIFCA remaining positive despite losing CEO in Ivory Coast violence

2011-09-28T04:36:00.000-07:00

Link

Ivory Coast's Abidjan's nightlife reduced to rubble

2011-08-23T07:33:00.000-07:00

Link

Flexible office space firm sees growing demand in Africa

2011-08-12T05:27:00.000-07:00

Link

Fashion week in Ivory Coast

2011-08-04T07:39:00.000-07:00

Link

Ivory Coast loses its crown jewels

2011-07-13T00:16:00.000-07:00

Link

Popular French restaurant chain opens shop in Ivory Coast

2011-07-07T09:40:00.000-07:00

Link

Prayer hotline launched in Ivory Coast

2011-06-24T03:59:00.000-07:00

Link

Ivory Coast party district Yopougon reopen for business

2011-06-13T08:17:00.000-07:00

Link

Ivory Coast's President Alassane Ouattara inaugurated

2011-05-22T13:55:00.000-07:00

Link

Ivory Coast set for party but can Ouattara clean up?

2011-05-20T01:37:00.001-07:00

Link

Ibrahim Coulibaly: Ivory Coast's serial coup-plotter

2011-04-28T07:33:00.000-07:00

Link

In pictures: Painting the battle for Abidjan

2011-04-28T05:10:00.000-07:00

Link

Ivory Coast's descent into 'madness'

2011-03-10T07:08:00.001-08:00

Link

Will deadlock see Ivory Coast shut up shop?

2011-02-03T02:31:00.000-08:00

Link

Ivory Coast: Two presidents, one crisis

2010-12-09T01:03:00.000-08:00

Link

Cocoa farmers: A mirror to Ivory Coast's divisions

2010-11-25T06:44:00.000-08:00

Link

Will Ivorian party spirit end the coups?

2010-10-30T01:36:00.000-07:00

Link

Pre-election tour of Ivory Coast

2010-10-22T06:26:00.000-07:00

Link

Ivory Coast campaigning for delayed election begins

2010-10-15T07:40:00.001-07:00

Link

In pictures: Ivory Coast's all-women traffic police

2010-10-06T03:54:00.000-07:00

Link

Asec crowned Ivorian champions

2010-09-29T08:05:00.001-07:00

Link

Cocoa pod disease threatens chocolate supplies

2010-09-24T02:04:00.000-07:00

Link

Ivorian bribes and stalemate causing hunger

2010-05-07T06:37:00.000-07:00

Link

Drogba named for Wafu awards

2010-05-02T05:36:00.001-07:00

Link

Ivory Coast football fans wary of Sven-Goran Eriksson

2010-03-30T02:28:00.000-07:00

Link

Ivory Coast opposition to join new unity government

2010-02-27T05:41:00.000-08:00

Link

Fear over Ivory Coast ruling on Trafigura waste pay-out

2010-01-22T09:04:00.000-08:00

Link

Ivorian tax-free rebel city flourishes

2010-01-08T04:51:00.000-08:00

Link

High Cocoa Prices Bring Profits, and Thefts

2009-12-28T07:16:00.000-08:00

Link

In Search of the Real Drogba

2009-12-27T03:34:00.000-08:00

Link

Didier Drogba's Greatest Fight

2009-12-06T11:26:00.000-08:00

Link

Elephants bid for African history

2009-12-05T05:28:00.000-08:00

Link

Ivorian joy at Trafigura ruling

2009-11-07T03:45:00.000-08:00

Link

Ivory Coast coup leader reburied

2009-10-02T07:22:00.001-07:00

Link

Settlement near for Ivory Coast’s victims of contaminated waste

2009-09-18T02:09:00.000-07:00

Link

UN warns on West African floods

2009-09-06T03:28:00.001-07:00

Link

Crowds welcome Clinton in Liberia

2009-08-14T02:28:00.000-07:00

Link

Clinton set for visit to Liberia

2009-08-13T03:02:00.000-07:00

Link

Michael Jackson's Other Funeral

2009-08-02T06:04:00.000-07:00

Link

Ivory Coast game under threat

2009-08-01T13:55:00.000-07:00

Link

Ivorian jailed for match stampede

2009-07-25T03:13:00.000-07:00

Link

Natural African beauty

2009-07-20T02:15:00.000-07:00

Link

Michael Jackson's chimp

2009-07-09T07:56:00.001-07:00

Link

Techni-vision

2009-07-07T09:21:00.000-07:00

Link

Ivory Coast fundraiser questioned

2009-05-17T01:05:00.000-07:00

Link

Ivory Coast election date is set

2009-05-15T02:56:00.000-07:00

Link

Ivory Coast frees French reporter

2009-05-07T02:37:00.000-07:00

Link

Ivorian stadium stampede kills 19

2009-03-29T18:01:00.000-07:00

Link

Ivory Coast's sweet cocoa success

2009-02-27T07:33:00.000-08:00

Link

How the world is feeling the pinch

2009-02-03T00:53:00.000-08:00

You'll notice if you listen to the sound that the actual person speaking in the soundbites is exactly the same. This was a mistake in London.
Link

Ariel (BBC weekly staff newspaper), Foreign bureau column

2009-02-02T05:13:00.000-08:00

Your opinion of Abidjan probably depends on where you’ve come from. If you’ve just stepped off a plane from Europe you’d probably find it a bit shabby and rundown. If, as in my case, you’ve come directly from a previous posting in the Republic of Congo (the ‘other’ Congo) you can’t help being wide-eyed. After a hassle-free transit through a modern airport largely free of the usual hucksters, you descend a main boulevard lined by restaurants and shopping centres. Then you cross West Africa’s biggest lagoon towards a wall of looming towers plastered with the neon signs of the commercial district.

But even when you enjoy electricity that never cuts, taps that don’t run dry, and a range of French restaurants to die for, you also need to bear in mind you’re in one of Africa’s failing states. Not a Somalia or a DR Congo to be sure, but a country once as heralded as Ghana is now and well on the road to middle-income status. That all makes for a heavy feeling of nostalgia for the days of ‘le vieux’; Ivory Coast’s founding father and president-for-life, Felix Houphouet-Boigny. His photo still decorates buildings and offices fifteen years after his death. You can’t say that about many places in Africa.

In truth the decline started long before Houphouet-Boigny left the scene. From a high point in 1980, poverty levels have increased from one in ten, to half of the population. The government tower blocks may look impressive, but the majority of the lifts are broke and it’s no fun climbing twenty plus floors in the tropical heat when the humidity’s in the 90s.

The country has one of the wonders of modern diplomacy; a frozen conflict. A rebellion in 2002 quickly split the country in two. The fighting didn’t last long, but the north has now spent six years under the rebel administration with a separate army and tax system.

Abidjan itself remains a great place to live. OK, French ex-pats no longer water-ski on the lagoon and the famously luxurious BBC villa was lost when the regional bureau fled to safer waters. But the standard of living is still well above most African cities, and you can’t go wrong with 300 miles of white sandy beaches. The market places are full of fresh tropical fruit in a country that’s a major exporter of bananas, pineapples and 40% of the world’s cocoa. When it comes to the evenings there are thousands of outdoor bars or maquis serving fantastic grilled food and playing one of the three major music styles here; coupé decalé, reggae or zouglou.

Then there’s football, with the national side counting the likes of Didier Drogba, Saloman Kalou, Emmanuel Eboue and Yaya and Kolo Touré. Many of the stars come from the biggest local club, Asec Mimosas, which holds the world record for league games unbeaten (104 matches, 1989-1994). Asec may not lose many matches, but it does lose players at a rapid pace. Every season the team starts with a squad of youngsters replacing those who’ve left for contracts in Europe.

Speaking is fun too. Thousands of miles from the shackles of the Académie française, French becomes a fluid and dynamic language. Second hand cars are France au revoir (goodbye France) and white people are peau graté (scratched skin). The young men who’ve fled to France dreaming of a better life may be sans-papiers (no papers) over there, but when they come back in the holidays they sweep the local girls off their feet with the trademark designer clothes and gadgets of a successful Parigo (Paris go).