Making Art and Culture Work in Cote d’Ivoire

Today Africa, we draw your attention to the beautiful country of Cote d’Ivoire and what is happening in that countries art scene. But first a bit of context.For those of you who don’t know - Cote d’Ivoire attained independence from the French on the 7th of August 1960. Her first president was Felix Houphouet-Boigny, who ruled the country until 1993. After Felix Houphouet-Boigny ended, Cote d’Ivoire has experienced a coup d’etat, in 1999, and two religious - grounded civil wars. The first two took place between 2002 and 2007 and the second during 2010 – 2011. Cote d’Ivoire has an income per capita (US$1014.4). She has the largest economy on the West African Economic and Monetary Union constituting 40% of the monetary union’s total GDP. She is the largest exporter of cocoa beans averaging US$2, 53 billion in earnings per year. Cote d’Ivoire also has 100,000 rubber farmers who earned an average of US$105 million per year. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/africanperspective/support