The economic relations between Ivory Coast and France: the government of Félix Houphouët Boigny and neocolonialism (1960-1993)

Abstract

he present article deals with the economic relations between Ivory Coast and France, analyzing the economic trajectory of the country under the presidency of Félix Houphouët Boigny (1960-1993). We seek to address the process of independence of the country, led by Boigny, dealing with the neocolonialist action of France through the use of the CFA Franc and the maintenance of military bases in the country, among others. In this context, we present a retrospective of Ivory Coast's economic policy, focused on agricultural production, mainly on the coffee-cocoa binomial. Much of the production continued to be exported to France after independence and, after a period of great export growth, in the 1980s the country entered a serious crisis, due to the maintenance of the economic structure of a colonial character. The crisis was marked by the fall in prices of the main export products, the external debt and its moratorium.  Although there is a history of adoption of structural adjustment programs (SAP) in the 1980s, conducted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development - World Bank (IBRD), the general effects did not lead to overcoming the crisis.