If the old guard of politicians were to finally step down, Ivory Coast might have a real chance for peace at long last, writes Dirke Köpp.
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Image: Issouf Sanogo/AFP
A 1980s German pop star, Ina Deter, once had a hit singing: "I'll spray it on every wall: the country needs new men." These lyrics can be easily applied to the election in Ivory Coast. But while Ina Deter was primarily concerned with providing Germany with more good looking men, Ivory Coast is searching for a capable leader. Unfortunately, he is nowhere in sight. Maybe the country should try a woman?
Three of the four men who took part in Saturday's election have one thing in common: they are far too old for a country where the average age is 19. And none of the four is an asset for a democratic society: they polarize, cultivate their old rivalries and keep the country in a permanent crisis. They don't care about the country and its citizens. What matters to them are their personal interests and those of their ethnic group.
Dirke Köpp is head of DW's French for Africa department
The old president
President Alassane Ouattara is a case in point. During his two terms in office he failed to heal the wounds caused by the power struggle after the 2010 election, from which he himself emerged victorious.
Ten years ago, Ouattara competed against his predecessor Laurent Gbagbo in the runoff for the presidency. Shortly afterwards, the country had two presidents. Both refused to step back. In the end, the dispute cost the lives of 3,000 people. Gbagbo was put behind bars and Ouattara took over.
Ouattara will now be sworn in for a third term. And even though he argues that this is legal, many Ivorians believe that his candidacy is a breach of the constitution. Gbagbo, on the other hand, was not allowed to run, nor were other well-known politicians who were too much of a competition for President Ouattara. The country is far from being reconciled.
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Unsuitable opposition candidates
The trauma caused by the violence 10 years ago still runs deep. So deep, in fact, that many Ivorians hoarded basic necessities before the election and did not dare leave their homes over the weekend. Two days after the election, the country's largest city, the economic metropolis of Abidjan, was still eerily quiet.
Truth be told, Ouattara's rivals are hardly any better suited to the job. Powerless against the president's decision to run again, they whipped up resentment and called on their supporters to "actively boycott" the election. Naturally, they moderated their speech and asked their followers to remain within the bounds of the law.
But on election day, opposition candidate Affi N'Guessan publicly raved about how well "the young people" had obstructed the election by building barricades and burning election material. In the process, police stations and markets also went up in flames. A politician who glorifies violence cannot be trusted with a country.
Ivory Coast: a slow rebirth
After its independence from France, the Ivory Coast was called the "Miracle of Africa" for its religious and ethnic harmony. But the dynamic country still faces many challenges.
Image: DW/E. Lafforgue
Strangers in their own country
Ivory Coast is home to 62 different ethnic groups, including the Peuls. But many don't have Ivorian citizenship because the government demands that at least one of their parents were born here — difficult to prove without proper documents. Without Ivorian citizenship, they can't open a bank account or get a driver's license, leaving many Peuls feeling like foreigners in their own country.
Image: DW/E. Lafforgue
Traditional fabrics tell a story
"Tell me which fabric you wear and I will tell you who are," is a common saying among Ivorians. The traditional wax print fabric is commonly worn by women and each pattern sends a different message to their husbands. The hibiscus flower wax pattern, for example, symbolizes happiness in marriage.
Image: DW/E. Lafforgue
Damaging beauty standards persist
Although they've officially been banned since 2015, skin-lightening products are still very popular here. Bleaching dark skin can cause irreparable damage and can even lead to hypertension and diabetes. Still, many pharmacies make a lot of money discreetly selling such products, as well as doctors who can prescribe them. One out of two women in the capital, Abidjan, uses skin lightening products.
Image: DW/E. Lafforgue
Leaning an ancient art
Young girls dance with their bodies coated with kaolin in Aniansué. They are learning to become komians: Traditional healers and fortune tellers. Komians are known for their ability to cure bad luck and predict the future and are often consulted by the country's most powerful politicans and local chiefs. A unique school teaches this art in the Akan culture.
Image: DW/E. Lafforgue
Fake medicine brings false hope
Almost half of the population live below the poverty line, making it easy to exploit those in need of healthcare. Approximately 600 tons of fake medicine have been seized over the last three years, representing a third of all medicines sold in the country. Most of it is imported from Asia. Signs like these are commonly seen outside shops selling 'Made in China' medicines.
Image: DW/E. Lafforgue
Dreaming of a new life abroad
The world learned of the plight of Ivorian refugees in early 2020 after the body of a teenage boy was found in the landing gear of a plane. Driven by a lack of job prospects, many young people dream of starting a new life abroad, taking dangerous migration roads to reach the Mediterreanean. President Alassane Ouattara has promised to create 200,000 new jobs a year, but the youth aren't convinced.
Image: DW/E. Lafforgue
Waiting for 'women's gold'
An man patiently waits to buy karite or shea butter in the Savanes District. The product is known as "women's gold" across Africa, as it is primarly women who earn money making and selling it to consumers via small cooperatives. Used in make-up and food, shea butter is popular all over the world.
Image: DW/E. Lafforgue
Woman take charge of an age-old cuisine
An Ivorian woman from the "Femmes battantes cooperative" (Women fighters cooperative) wraps attiéké, a traditional type of couscous made from cassava tubers. Women are also in charge of the production of attiéké: They grow the cassava, process it and sell it along the side the road. This income is often used to send their children to school.
Image: DW/E. Lafforgue
Mining still a man's world
The booming mining industry meanwhile remains dominated by men. But that hasn't stopped some women from wanting to work in the sector. However, they are often victims of clandestine exploitation and the work is notoriously exhausting under the blazing sun.
Image: DW/E. Lafforgue
A struggling cocoa sector
In Ivory Coast, the cocoa sector is on the verge of a new crisis. Small traders are finding it increasingly difficult to compete with larger local cooperatives which hold most of the contracts with major chocolate manufacturers such as Mars or Nestle. Out of 3,000 cocoa cooperatives in the country, just over 200 are fair trade certified.
Image: DW/E. Lafforgue
A place of worship
The Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in Yamoussoukro was consecrated by Pope
John Paul II in 1990 and was said to have cost $300 million (€277 million) to build. It's even bigger than St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, which it is basedon. The basilica can accommodate 200,000 people: 7,000 inside and the rest out on the esplanade. But today, only a few hundred people flock to Sunday mass.
Image: DW/E. Lafforgue
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A need for reconciliation
It is true that the opposition's possibilities are limited. They have almost no way of asserting themselves against an over-powerful government. But violence never helped Ivory Coast in the past.
The country now needs someone capable of calming down tempers; someone able to unite young people from different ethnic groups instead of stirring up conflict among them; someone who accepts his party's candidate as a good choice, even if he or she does not belong to his ethnicity. Ethnic conflicts have already cost Ivory Coast too many lives.
All of this will remain wishful thinking for now. If the candidates had been at least a little younger — Ouattara is 78 years old, his oldest rival, ex-president Henri Konan Bedie, 86, Affi N'Guessan 67 — and not decades-long political rivals, the chances of progress would have been much better.
The people might then have had a real election and a real new beginning. Instead, the old guard prevailed once again and managed to keep themselves from being replaced by a younger and fresher generation. Poor Ivory Coast.
Forced marriage in Ivory Coast
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This article was translated from German by Cristina Krippahl.
