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Ivory’s Gbagbo Threatens Cocoa, Gold Exporters

09 March 2011 20:12 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. The government of Ivory Coast’s presidential incumbent Laurent Gbagbo Wednesday threatened to seize cocoa stocks held by cocoa exporters, and warned gold miners that they could be nationalized if they don’t cooperate with the government, APA reports quoting â€œThe Wall Street Journalâ€.
Cocoa exporters in Ivory Coast have been given until the end of March to ship stocks or have them seized, the head of the country’s cocoa-coffee management board warned Wednesday.
Gilbert Ano N’Guessan said companies had around 440,000 metric tons of cocoa in warehouses at the ports of Abidjan and San Pedro, which would be forfeit if export taxes aren’t paid and the beans shipped.
"For cocoa exporters who haven’t paid their export taxes from March 31, the state, working with the coffee-cocoa management board, will seize either the resources or simply the beans to fulfil this obligation," said Mr. Ano N’Guessan.
Exporters say that because of European Union sanctions against the two ports, it is no longer possible to ship beans to the principal customers in Europe. Ivory Coast is the world’s biggest cocoa exporter, with exports of 1.2 million tons of cocoa in 2010.
Mr. Ano N’Guessan is a close ally of Mr. Gbagbo, who has refused to hand over power despite near-unanimous recognition that he lost a presidential election to Alassane Ouattara last November. Mr. Ouattara, called for a boycott on cocoa exports in January, which has been widely obeyed, blocking off a key source of revenue to Mr. Gbagbo’s government.
Mr. Ouattara has tried to use financial sanctions, boycotts and civil disobedience to persuade Mr. Gbagbo to accept defeat and hand over power. Mr. Ouattara took control of the Central Bank of West African States in January, after West African heads of state forced the pro-Gbagbo bank governor to resign, although Mr. Gbagbo’s government later seized the bank’s offices.
International banks suspended operations in the country in February. Mr. Gbagbo’s government seized control of the banks, and Mr. Gbagbo’s official spokesman Wednesday warned that gold miners could face a similar fate.
"We took control of the banks because they refused to work. We just did the same in the cocoa sector, because companies were free to export and didn’t," said Don Mello, the official spokesman for Gbagbo’s government.
Mr. Mello said for the time being gold companies were "behaving themselves" so had nothing to fear, but he said the government was prepared to do what was needed to keep the economy alive.
"We can’t leave certain people to asphyxiate the Ivorian economyâ€”because for some people, this is their sole objective," he said.
The main gold mine is run by Randgold Resources Ltd. and started production last year. Randgold’s mine is based at Tongon in the far north of the country, an area controlled by former rebels now loyal to Mr. Ouattara.