Since the signing of a comprehensive peace agreement in March 2007, C?te d’Ivoire has been healing the wounds of a civil war that divided the country for more than four years. Major challenges remain in reconciling different political and ethnic groups and in reviving the confidence of a vibrant business sector that once made the country one of West Africa’s economic powerhouses.
Local business leaders believe that the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), adopted by African leaders in 2001 as the continent’s comprehensive plan for economic, social and political advancement, has a key role to play in helping to mobilize the private sector for C?te d’Ivoire’s recovery. The NEPAD Business Group in C?te d’Ivoire, set up a few months before the peace agreement, has been in “constant dialogue” with the government to “set up building blocks for a post-crisis plan,” says its president, Guy M’Bengue, who also heads the country’s export promotion agency.
In fact, Mr. M’Bengue told Africa Renewal, the Ivorian private sector managed to minimize the damage of the war by keeping intact the country’s industrial base, “despite the difficult times over the last five years.” But if renewed investment is to be encouraged, business confidence must be restored.
The NEPAD Business Group, now with more than 100 members, has been urging the government to undertake legal, tax and customs reforms. So far the authorities have reduced the value-added tax and begun paying off public debts owed to private businesses, measures that have helped “to create trust between the government and the private sector,” says Mr. M’Bengue.
The Ivorian group also joined with the government to organize a forum for businesses to learn about NEPAD-sponsored infrastructure development projects that are being financed by the African Development Bank (ADB). The group expects further dialogue with the government in developing more incentives for the private sector, as part of a broad plan for post-conflict recovery.
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