Birame Faye of Trust Media London is reporting that the ending of Ivory Coast’s crisis is proving to be a blessing for the economy of the sub-region. Despite international financial turmoil, high oil import prices and food shortages in the Sahel, the West African Economic and Monetary Union expects a comfortable growth rate for 2012, in contrast to last year.
The organization, known by its French acronym UEMOA, attributes the growth above all to the strong recovery of Ivory Coast’s economy since the end of its long-running conflict last year.
According to UEMOA forecasts the economic zone, comprising eight mainly Francophone countries, will see a growth rate of 6.1 per cent this year compared to 1 per cent last year.
“Investors are coming back to Ivory Coast. That has benefits for all of West Africa, since it is the country that has the most immigrants (from the region). Besides, it accounts for 40 per cent of the union’s gross domestic product,” says Valeria Fichera, the International Monetary Fund’s representative in Senegal.
Read more at AllAfrica.com.
Like The Burton Wire on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter @TheBurtonWire.
