By IPS Correspondents
BOUAKE, Ivory Coast, Feb 2 2009 (IPS)

Mamadou Dembélé has removed all the contraband products he has sold for the past in six years at his shop in Bouaké in central Ivory Coast. This is due to the gradual return of government control in the area – occupied by the rebellion launched in the country in September 2002.

He now has clothing, plates, cigarettes, palm oil and other cosmetic products displayed in boxes on which you can read the inscription “Made in Ivory Coast.”

“I sold products smuggled in from neighbouring countries,” Dembélé tells IPS. “I acquired them without paying any taxes. But for some months now, we’re dealing with the return of government administration in this part of the country. So what I now need to do is to trade normally by offering local products and paying taxes.”

According to Dembélé, in spite of the previous situation, things were not rosy. “Because civil servants fled the region due to the crisis, we had trouble selling off our products. There was nobody to buy them,” he laments, hoping that the return of government administration will now boost business.

Two blocks away from his store, people stand in single file in front of the offices of a bank. “We no longer need to chase after our salaries. The banks are back so we’re served on the spot,” enthuses Fabrice Kouakou, a government official.

Says his neighbour André Malan, “it is now easy to send and receive money. We’re no longer isolated. In fact, everything is returning to normal and our suffering is gradually coming to an end.”

On the route to Bouaké’s airport, Harouna Yaméogo is a regular around the city’s main cotton seed milling plant. “We’ve found out that the company will resume business in the next few days. I don’t want to miss out so I’m on the lookout every day for notification,” he tells IPS.

A cleaner, Yaméogo is one of 400 employees at the company, which declared bankruptcy seven months ago after having conducted its business with difficulty during the civil war. Temporarily laid off, the employees expect to get their jobs back with things looking up as the crisis nears an end in the West African country.

However, if a large part of the population approves of the gradual return to normal in areas under the control of former rebels, this is not the case for Karim Coulibaly, a motor parts dealer. “With free and informal trade, I was more comfortable,” he tells IPS, adding: “With the return of the tax administration and customs, we will still face being hassled by customs officials.”

Drissa Traoré, a member of the Organisation for Community Development (an NGO based in Bouaké) explains to IPS: “Part of the population is not yet ready to abandon old practices. Everything was acquired with ease and people didn’t expect the good times to come to an end so soon. However, the survival of the country’s economy was at stake.”

In fact, since the outbreak of the political and military crisis in Ivory Coast on Sep. 19, 2002, the northern part of the country has been run informally, due to the closure of banks, companies and many state structures.

In the absence of customs administration, people were able to buy mopeds, TVs, clothes and furniture cheaply from across the border. And their suppliers did not pay taxes, a considerable loss of earnings for the Ivorian economy, estimated at some $80 million a month by experts.

“The black market has fluctuated in former rebel areas and this has not benefitted the state,” says Firmin Akoto, an economist based in Abidjan, the economic capital of Ivory Coast. “In six years of conflict, there was no duty or control over the diamond and cotton trades, businesses closed and it was difficult to collect water and electricity bills. This means that about 3000 billion CFA francs (six billion dollars) slipped out of the coffers,” he says.

According to Akoto, restoring government administration was more crucial in the north. “With the funds available, the state could offset the poor coffee and cocoa harvest and also fund the electoral process: a lifeline of sorts, because the economy was dying,” he adds.

The Ivory Coast is split in two with a rebel army occupying the northern half of the country. For over six years, this force, mainly made up of former members of the regular army have fought against the alleged exclusion of people from this part of the country. The crisis led to a lengthy shutdown of government function in the central, north and western parts of the country.

But in the second week of January, the Ivorian authorities announced that government control had been partly restored with the resumption of services to these areas by 23,552 employees out of the 24,000-plus who fled their posts at the start of the war.

In addition, 519 buildings out of nearly 4,000 are in the process of being rehabilitated to host, in February, members of the prefecture and from specific departments, namely the judiciary, customs and tax and the treasury.

On Jan. 22, during a goodwill presentation ceremony, the Ivorian head of state, Laurent Gbagbo, announced the imminent redeployment of 4,000 policemen in areas under the control of formers rebels, to mark the return of defence and security forces.

“It’s clear that the foundation for reunification has been laid,” says Akoto. “We hope to see the entire process go smoothly and according to schedule. The country needs it to revive and get out of increasing impoverishment.”

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