EU lifts ban, allows shipping to resume to Cote d'Ivoire

THE European Union has lifted its ban on shipping and financial transactions with the government controlled agencies of the Cote d'Ivoire following the arrest of Laurent Gbagbo, the former president who lost the general election in November 2010, but refused to leave office.


Under January's EU restrictions dealings with the ports of Abidjan and San Pedro, the Ivorian Refining Co and the Coffee and Cocoa Trade Management Committee were forbidden. Safmarine, Maersk, OT Africa Line and Delmas are now monitoring the still unstable situation on the ground.


Once cargo had been discharged, services to and from Abidjan were halted and any cargo destined for or originating from the country dumped at third party nation ports, such as Tema and Takoradi in Ghana, reports London's Containerisation International. These ports also got transit cargo bound for inland Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali which previously went through Cote d'Ivoire ports.


Alassane Outtara, backed with the predominantly Muslim population of the north, is taking over a country still divided by a continuing intermittent civil war which breaks out from time to time.


According to Wikipedia, Muslims represent 35 - 40 per cent of the population, "indigenous" 25-40 per cent while Christians account for 20-30 per cent. In Abidjan, the business capital, where the non-Muslim population predominates, more than a million people have fled, leaving banks and financial institutions closed.
(Source:http://www.schednet.com)