Word: houphouet
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...Congo President Joseph Mobutu to spare Tshombe's life, not only for humanitarian reasons but for fear that his execution might spark resentment, and perhaps even a new Congo revolt that could undermine Mobutu's regime. Such enlightened African leaders as the Ivory Coast's Felix Houphouet-Boigny and Leopold Senghor of Senegal are known to oppose any execution as crude blood revenge. And the spectacle of Tshombe's wife, Ruth, and one of her sons, Jean, 23, vainly pleading with the United Nations for a "world habeas cor pus" to save her husband did arouse...
French Advice. The former colony did not achieve full independence from France until 1960. Even after that, the pocket-sized nation (pop. 3,800,000) welcomed French investment, and Houphouet-Boigny relied heavily on French aid and advisers. Chief among these was Economist Raphaël Saller, who executed for the Ivory Coast an economic program inspired by France's own le Plan. Blessed with nine feet of annual rainfall and a sunny six-month growing season, the Ivory Coast ranks third among the world's coffee producers, fourth in cocoa. But aware of the dangers...
...Houphouet-Boigny shunned the showy industrial schemes dear to many other leaders of underdeveloped countries. But the government invested heavily in light industry, with new factories built to manufacture everything from bicycles to bed frames. The Ivory Coast has also achieved a tidy trade balance, with imports of $236 million and exports of $277 million last year. Per capita income for Ivorians is $200 a year, the highest in Black Africa...
American Aid. The Ivory Coast is solidly tied into France's African sphere of influence. Still, Houphouet-Boigny decided early this year on a greater display of self-sufficiency. Replacing Sailer as the Ivory Coast's top moneymen are two Africans. Mohamed Diawara, 35, a University of Paris mathematics graduate, is in charge of le Plan. And presiding as Minister of Finance and Economics is Konan Bédié, 32, a Baoule tribesman with an economics degree from France's University of Poitiers...
...also casting about for increased U.S. capital investment in the Ivory Coast. From a U.S. viewpoint, the generous "tax holidays" the Ivory Coast is willing to grant in return for investments make the idea attractive. But there is an Ivorian benefit too: every new U.S. investor makes Houphouet-Boigny a little more independent of his French advisers...