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Ougadougou (Agenzia Fides) – “I have come to tell you the storm has passed,” the President of Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbagbo said in his address to the Burkina Faso Parliament, one of the most important moments on his trip to the neighboring country, July 27-29.
The “storm” Mr. Gbagbo is referring to is the political crisis in Ivory Coast that broke out in 2002 and has now been overcome thanks to an agreement signed in Burkina Faso’s capital city of Ougadougou in March 2007. The crisis also involved the immigrants from Burkina Faso living in Ivory Coast – 5 million people – and was creating tension between the two countries.
Gbagbo’s visit sealed reconciliation between the two countries, whose governments intend to look towards the future in strengthening their regional collaboration. In speaking to Parliament, the Ivorian Head of State said: “For me and also for many Ivorians and Burkina Faso nationals Ivory Coast and Burkina are one and the same fatherland in the heart of West Africa because of our long political, economical, social, cultural and human history. This is why what occurs in Burkina Faso is not isolated from Ivory Coast and visa-versa. This is where the work of President Compaoré and the entire Burkina Faso population comes into play in resolving the crisis in Ivory Coast. We are witnesses of this and I have come here to thank you.”
President Gbagbo recalled the common history of the two countries, united from 1932 to 1947 in the same French colony. In these 15 years, there was a strong migration movement between the two territories, which continues to this day. Given these close bonds between the two countries, Gbagbo has launched a proposal for a “Yamoussoukro-Ouagadougou Axis, as cooperative axis within the UEMOA (Union Economique et Monétaire Ouest Africaine) and the CEDEAO (Communauté Economique Des Etats de l'Afrique de l'Ouest),” similar to the Paris-Berlin Axis within the European Union. The President of Ivory Coast has named these two institutions as instruments in re-launching the development process in both States, in the existing and future infrastructures that link the two countries. The Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso are already linked by railroad. The reforms made by the port authorities of Abidjan have established Burkina, Mali, and Niger as the partners in managing this instrument in the development of our region. We should add projects for electrical connects, for extension of the highway in northern Ivory Coast, for the construction of pipelines for rapid transport of fuel to Burkina and other countries.” Among the other points addressed by President Gbagbo were: increasing the value of the dollar (the CFA Franc), managing the internal and external migration movements, the education of the youth and the brain drain, the fight against illnesses, and protection of the environment. During his visit, Gbagbo signed an agreement of friendship and collaboration between Burkina and Ivory Coast, with his counterpart, Capaoré. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 30/7/2008)
