World Bank Issues Aid Warning to Ivory Coast

The World Bank does not plan to provide loans to Ivory Coast unless the West African country can end corruption in its profitable cocoa industry. “You have to deal with serious corruption in the sector because that is the only way the economics will add up for the poor people who are the ones creating the wealth but are being unfairly treated by current arrangements,” said Obiageli Ezekwesili, World Bank vice president for Africa. Ezekwesili said that Ivory Coast may benefit from a USD3 billion debt relief by mid-2009 depending on the International Monetary Fund’s assessment of the country’s economic performance. (“W. Bank says Ivorian aid tied to cleaning up cocoa” - Thomson Reuters, Sept. 6, 2008)