Good infrastructure equals better business
In Côte d’Ivoire, most infrastructure development programmes are planned and implemented by the state or state-owned enterprises: Construction of roads, the building of bridges, the supply of electricity and water, even telecoms. The country governs centrally, meaning that the budget for the rest of the country is allocated by politicians from the financial and political hubs of Abidjan and Yamoussoukro. Naturally, all leadership gravitates towards these centres of influence and with them the majority of the country’s fiscus. This does not bode well for the outlying areas where, ironically, the bulk of the country’s GDP comes from Cocoa, Coffee, Rubber/Latex, Wood, Rice, Gold, Diamonds and many more (see here for an overview of Côte d’Ivoire) are all based in remote regions of the country. The net result is that the road network in and immediately around the two above-mentioned centres is decent, while in the main economic contributors further afield suffer from a gross under-delivery of even basic services let-alone cellular coverage and internet.
Hazard-ville
I have never made the trip from Duékoué, where I am based, to Abidjan (the capital) without seeing at least one truck that has lost its load (usually more than one). The road is in a bad state of repair – fraught with potholes and vegetation growing right up to the edges. These accidents represent a huge loss in productivity and have a significant impact on entrepreneurs, even if they are insured, who take the risk of transporting their wares to the ports and urban centres. Not to mention the cost in time: +/- 200 cars, busses and trucks were stuck for up to 12 hours. [efn_note] The accident occurred at 3 AM and “Emergency services” only arrived at 3 PM. “Emergency services” is used loosely here, because it was a local entrepreneur from a nearby town who eventually sent his bulldozer to try and assist.[/efn_note] Resultantly, the less profitable entrepreneurs have a roll-up effect on the economy of the country as a whole.
Infrastructure-woes
Besides the basic infrastructure, there are other issues such as internet connectivity which is equally poor – if not more so. Once one leaves the major centres, cellular coverage and network speeds drop drastically. When doing a speed test the other day, I was shocked to find that the network barely managed 0.5 Mbps upload and 0.3 Mbps download. This represents a lot of time of “sitting and waiting”. Transfer of information between the factory and the head-office is worse than pulling teeth, yet our profitability and viability depends on strong management and control tools as well as prompt decision making.
Where does it all go?
The cocoa price is regulated tightly with a significant portion of the taxes and levies (believe me there are many) going into government coffers – ostensibly so that the infrastructure can be maintained and upgraded. However, there is no sign of the latter. Governments all over Africa pay lip-service to the idea that agri-business and production should be encouraged as they are the backbone of the continent. But when the rubber needs to meet the road it becomes clear that this is simply rhetoric. The potholes expose the fact that priorities lie elsewhere: maintaining public servants’ lifestyles and serving the interest of the bureaucratic echelons of society.
There is a bid to increase the minimum sale price of cocoa. The publicized reason for this is to ensure that the farmers who cultivate the product see more of the benefit of the global cocoa industry (USD100bn in chocolate alone). This is a noble initiative, however, there is a case for arguing that this might only mean more money to “waste”. The cocoa growing zones are certainly not reaping the windfall, so where is the money going?
Conclusion
My intention in this article is not to contradict or undermine what I have said previously. I still believe that, as a continent, we should stop WAITING for the government to ease our plights. The point I make here is this: If the government is going to take a very large chunk of the margin in an industry, then they better maintain – no actually improve upon – the infrastructure that services that industry.
