THE SIGNIFICANCE OF COTE D’ IVOIRE TO ECOWAS » Download Project Topics

Abstract:

The difference in languages and m entities , the underdeveloped political culture and the stagnant economic structure of West African state constitutes some of the major interaction problems undermining the progress, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) could have record e d over the years . Colonialism is identified t o be the genesis of these problems. West African states were colonized by Britain , France and Portugal which have different languages , and different mentalist. Their former colonies were compelled to adopt their different culture , civilization and languages, and this , really exa cerebrate the problem of unity in ECOWAS, The appositives of economic and human resource from West Africa by those colonies stateless so deepened the problems of economic integration in West African. The role of Cote d’Ivoire in ECOWAS is being examined from this background. The Ivorine economy which depends solely on cocoa and coffee is tied to the apron string of developed capabilities countries , her political structure is designed i n such a way that, it has been played a subservient role to France. Both the economic and political structure of Cote d ‘ lvoire indicate that her independence could be defined as being sham and nominal in nature . It is obvious that the political co economic set up of Cote d ‘lvorie influence the kind of role she has been played in ECOWAS. Cote d’ Ivoire, a country which gives priority to cooperation between her and developed countries like France, runs the risk of subjecting the aims and objectives of ECOWAS introducing . Her political role during French colonialism in West Africa are enough to justify that her activities in any regional organizations she belongs to are geared toward realizing her national interest or rather, protecting the interest of developed countries on which she relies . Though the Rasseblement Democratique initiated by Houphouet Boigny led most Francophone African countries to independence, Houphouet Boigny disagreed at the epoch to belong to the Federation of Mali group proposed by Senegal. (The Federation of Mali advocated for a united government for the Francophone countries of the region). His disagreement was attributed to the fact that, the Federation of Mali which could have likely made Dakar (former French colonial capital in West Africa) the capital, could not have benefited Cote d’lvoire which was the most developed Francophone country of the region. Another interpretation of this Federation system was that, if the Federation of Mali succeeded, it could have enabled member states to challenge France domination of their economy. In revenge, Houphouet Boigny created the Conseil de 1 ‘Entente which comprises of five countries. Togo, Burkina Faso, Benin, Niger and Cote d’lvoire, France, in order to safeguard her own interest , intervened to reconcile Cote d’lvoire and Senegal so that all francophone countries should belong to the same organisation, that is how, the “Communaute’ des Etats de l’Afrique* de l’Ouest – C.E.A.O. – was created, but in this case, there was no proposition as weather to have a joint government, and it was limited to only Francophone countries of the region. In ECOWAS, it is glaring that the reserved attitude of Cote d’ I voire on any issue concerning the community leads to serious recrimination among member states. The Liberian crisis is a case in point. Cote d’ I voire disagreed to cooperate with ECOMOG to achieve the objectives of keeping peace in Liberia. Looking at the development in the world economic and political relations and the historical evolution of West African states, Cote d’lvoire would at a point be prevented irom fleutii;. regional policy which could benefit the entire ECOWAS member states. The integration going on in Europe is likely to redefine the relations between France and Cote d’lvoire. Many Francophone countries have committed themselves to ECOWAS, then Cote d’lvoire has no other choice than to embrace BCOWAS. Further economic activities in the region will confirm that fact.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF COTE D’ IVOIRE TO ECOWAS