Ivory Coast needs 20bn euros, says president

AFP/Paris

Ouattara: counting on the G8

The new Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara said that he will tell the G8 summit that his war-torn country needs up to 20bn euros ($28bn) in aid over the next five years.“We need between 15bn and 20bn euros for the next five years. That is how much my programme will cost,” he added on France’s Europe 1 radio station.“I am hoping for a confirmation of their appreciation of democracy in Ivory Coast, to reduce poverty. We want Ivory Coast to put an end to this long period of economic agony and reconcile our people,” said Ouattara who is a guest at a summit in France with leaders of the world’s eight most industrialised nations.Ouattara, who was sworn in as president on May 21 after a bitter and violent post-election crisis, did not list all the nations he would ask for help.But he said, “there is a price to pay and I am counting on the G8” to be a partner in Ivory Coast’s development.He said French President Nicolas Sarkozy has assured on debt reduction and suggested 2bn euros in development assistance might be available.“Of course, I will ask for a little more from the (US) president,” Ouattara added. “The G8 must help us because Ivory Coast was a case study.”The United Nations, African Union and several foreign governments stood firmly behind Ouattara when his political rival Laurent Gbagbo refused to cede power after being declared the loser of the country’s November vote.Several top international officials said that the standoff was a test for democracy in Africa and that an incumbent president must not be allowed to get away with altering the results of an election he clearly lost.Ouattara explained that his country’s needs are particularly acute because Ivory Coast faces a 7% reduction in growth this year brought on by the post-election crisis that left 3,000 dead, according to the new government.Ouattara also chided Gbagbo for “spending more than 1bn euros over the last seven years on weapons”.In the same interview, Outtara said that he asked Sarkozy to maintain France’s military presence in Ivory Coast.The French force, known as Licorne, played an active role during the unrest in Ivory Coast, and even supported, along with UN peacekeepers, the effort by pro-Ouattara militias to arrest Gbagbo.Ouattara justified the continued presence of French troops, saying that to combat the threats of terrorism and drug trafficking Ivory Coast “needs a sophisticated intelligence system and France can give us this support”.He also told the radio station that he would be able to form a unity government involving “all significant political forces” by mid-June “at the latest”.Ouattara has said representatives from rival factions would be offered posts, including Gbagbo loyalists, who insist they will not join government until the former president is released from house arrest.Gbagbo is being held at an official residence in the north of Ivory Coast.Ouattara has said the ousted leader will face domestic prosecution and has also asked the International Criminal Court to investigate whether Gbagbo committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in the post-election period.