Ivory Coast Election Crises Stifles Cocoa Exporting

Ivory Coast continues to struggle as incumbent president Luarent Gbagbo refuses to step down to rival Alassane Ouattara, even though it is becoming increasingly clear that Ouattara was the victor in the country’s recent election.  Gbagbo refuses to step down, and has gone so far as to declare himself the winner of the election.  This is causing confusion in many areas of the government, as citizens, businesses, and politicians do not know who is in charge.  The conflict is also causing violence, as Gbagbo’s supporters in the South face off against the northern rebels who support Ouattara.

As our blogger @StanaCardSara began to point out last Friday, the unrest in the country has begun to affect the exporting of cocoa, Ivory Coast’s most important export.  Today alone, tens of thousands of tons of cocoa that was supposed to head to other world markets were held up.  So far this season, the entire cocoa trade market is fallen by 9 percent already because of the political unrest and things don’t look great for the future, as neither candidate is likely to drop out of the race.  Even with the UN and ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) backing the fact that Ouattara has been the new leader of the country, Gbagbo refuses to believe it, and is holding strong in the presidential palace, making claims of vote-rigging in the north. 

The cocoa exporters are so affected by this crisis because, as one worker put it, they simply don’t know who to listen to.  “We are working with fear in our belly. We do not know who is really legitimate in this situation -- we don't even know who should be signing the export papers.  If we start working with one team and there is a change at the helm, we don't know if we will face reprisals.”

We hope that this situation gets resolved soon to put a stop to the violence between the north and south, and that Ivory Coast can continue to export cocoa, its best product, at the same levels it has been in the past.  For any of you out there with family and friends in the Ivory Coast, now would be a great time to get in touch, and with our low rates of only 17.9 cents per minute, it has never been cheaper or easier.  

By @StanaMark - follow me on Twitter!

Ivory Coast Election Results

Ivory Coast, what’s going on?  As of yesterday, their borders have been closed.  According to CNN, Col. Major Babri Gohourou said that the air, sea, and land borders had been shut down until further notice and it was to quell the tensions of the area because the election results were unclear. 

The radio and television broadcasting stations have also been ordered to be suspended.

The Ivory Coast, or the Côte d'Ivoire announced former Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara as the winner against incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo on Thursday.  This was after the deadline on Wednesday, which is perhaps part of the issue.  Today, it was announced that the poll was overturned and Gbagbo was indeed the winner.

According to Reuters, “The U.N. Security Council warned Ivory Coast that it was prepared to take "appropriate measures," a diplomatic codeword for sanctions, against anyone thwarting the electoral process.

The vote, delayed for five years, was meant to reunite the top cocoa grower, split in two by a 2002-2003 civil war, but has instead exposed north-south divisions and sparked violence. Fears of unrest pushed cocoa prices up over four percent in Thursday trade. Many Ivorian exporters have suspended business.”

As I’ve mentioned before, cocoa is on its way to being very rare and very pricey.  This certainly isn’t helping.

While the media is shut down over there, we are hoping that phone lines are not.  If you need to call family or friends to check on them, please note our low rate of 17.9 cents per minute.   Stay safe, Ivory Coast.

- @StanaCardSara