Before the world forgets…

The first two months and counting of 2011 has ushered in tremendous winds of change across the Arab world, in particular the Maghreb countries of North Africa. The young year of 2011 has witnessed the ouster of two long-standing leaders in the region – Ben Ali of Tunisia and Hosni Mubarak of Egypt. Furthermore, the United States is leading a coalition of western and Arab countries to bomb targets in Libya in a bid to force Qaddafi out of power and prevent the continued slaughter of civilians.

While the Maghreb has certainly deserved the attention of the world leaders due both to the scale of the protests and the wider Middle-East’s role as the world’s gas tank, it is also important for world leaders not to lose sight of trouble brewing is less conspicuous places. It has become easy for the world to forget the tragedy that is going on in the Ivory Coast, where a president who the world has acknowledged lost the general election still manages to cling on to power. This is despite the United Nations, United States and the African Union’s recognition of his opponent: Allasane Quattara as the legitimate president of the country.

Despite calls for him to step down, the incumbent “president” Gbagbo remains entrenched in power and the calls have become less stringent and fervent as the crisis in the Middle East as now become front-burner in the minds of world leaders. This ought not to be so as an incident that started off as a power struggle between two politicians is fast approaching the scale of sectarian clashes and civil war. With Gbabgo already encouraging civilian supporters to join in the “battle” against Quattara and the battle lines being drawn once again along North-South lines.

The country has in the meantime defaulted on its Eurobond interest payment, further putting pressure on potential issuances by African countries and raising the cost of issuance for those who manage to do so. The country’s famous cocoa industry has also come under a lot of strain as the fighting has caused disruptions in the supply chain and this has had a non-trivial effect on the global cocoa industry. Adding to the already bad situation is the contagious tendency of civil wars in Sub-Saharan Africa with fighters drifting off to cause trouble in nearby countries and refugees from war-torn countries placing strains on already stretched social services in neighboring countries. A full blown civil war is something the world has to prevent in Ivory Coast and the international community must find a way to diffuse the tension and restore calm! I salute the world’s courage in Libya but I think Ivory Coast should not be forgotten!!