AFRICA/IVORY COAST - RE-OPENING OF IVORY COAST/BURKINA FASO BORDER HAILED WITH SATISFACTION

Thursday, 11 September 2003

Abidjan (Fides Service) – “Yesterday we were present at the ceremony for the re-opening of the Ivory Coast/Burkina Faso border and we saw the joy and relief on faces on both sides of the frontier” PIME missionaries working at Bouake in north Ivory Coast tell Fides Service. “Border guards opened the gates at 2.30pm and immediately caravans of trucks began to move from both sides” the missionaries add. “The joy of the people is understandable: re-establishing of trade between the Ivory Coast/Burkina Faso was of vital importance for the economies of these neighbour countries” the PIME missionaries explain. In fact Ivory Coast collects revenues from the passage of trade directed to and from landlocked Burkina Faso which has vital need of Ivorian sea ports in order to communicate with the rest of the world. In recent months Burkina Faso had to use ports in Ghana, Togo and Benin for which transport costs are much higher and weighed heavily on the country’s already feeble economy.
Moreover Ivory Coast has a large community of Burkina people, about 3 million, (in a population of 16 million). Most of them work in cocoa plantations. Closed borders meant for the immigrants no contact with families or friends,
Now the frontier is open, the next step is to resume train services between the capitals, Abidjan and Ouagadougou.
The Ivory Coast/Burkina Faso border was closed in September last year when civil war broke out following an unsuccessful coup. A rebel group, Ivory Coast Peoples Movement, MPCI, quickly took control of the northern part of the country which borders on Burkina Faso. The Ivorian government accused Burkina Faso of supporting the MPCI and there was tension between the countries for several months. (LM (Fides Service 11/9/2003 EM lines 38 Words: 478)


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