The Myth of Ivory Coast the “West African Miracle”

In the 1980s, all the western economists at the World Bank, and IMF and other western think tanks called Ivory Coast the “West African Miracle”. The narrative was that Ivory Coast’s Abidjan was the Manhattan of Africa. Prevailing western thought was praise for Ivory Coast. This country was supposed to be shining city on the hill. Other African countries such as Nigeria and Ghana were supposed to envy and follow the footsteps of Ivory Coast.

2019 GDP Numbers

The irony is that in 2020, Nigeria has the most billionaires and millionaires in Africa. Nigeria has the largest economy in Africa even bigger than South Africa. In 2019, Nigeria’s GDP was $410BN. Ghana had a GDP of $66BN while Ivory Coasts was only at $43BN.

To its credit, Ivory Coast built state of the art infrastructure to attract investors. The government of invested in roads and six lane highways. They also invested in water supplies, a well-equipped port, and telecommunications. The economic capital of Abidjan grew from a population 30,000 people at independence to 2 million people in 1986.

Propaganda Vs. Economics

The reason that Ivory Coast was paraded as the perfect African country was more propaganda and less economics. Ivory Coast was very much the darling of the West because the leader was a puppet of France. After all the President Felix Houphouet-Boigny had been in power for 25 years in 1986, a clear indication that this President was the opposite of democratically elected President.

Statistics of the fallacy of the West African miracle

Raw materials industry vs Manufacturing

In 1984, Ivory Coast’s timber industry was highly regarded by all economic indicators, yet it only processed 40% of the logs into lumber and finished product. The other 60% of the timber was exported as raw materials. The reality is there is less revenue in exporting raw materials. The real revenue is in manufacturing which is why no country has ever become a global powerhouse without a strong manufacturing base. Britain did not become an economic leader until the industrial revolution, just like USA, China, Singapore, and South Korea.

Income vs Wealth

The Ivorians were told that they were better than most Africans because they had managerial jobs while immigrants from other African countries worked as labourers. Ivorians were told by the western economists that their income made them better. The irony is that these economists measured success by income yet in the west success is measured by wealth. Ivorians were bamboozled into thinking that income is the same as wealth, but they have learned the hard way that propaganda is not economics.

In 1986, there were 700 companies employing 90,000 people and generating an annual turnover of over $300BN. At independence there had been only a few firms in the country. 20 years later the picture had changed and more foreign investors had come into Ivory Coast. The problem was the Ivorians did not own these firms so there was little difference made to the life or wealth of ordinary Ivorians. After all wealth is in ownership of capital not jobs. In 2020, Ivorians are not wealthier than their neighbouring counterparts in Ghana or Nigeria because they failed o understand the basic rule of wealth which is ownership and not income.