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N’gbo Gilbert Marie AKE nommé Nouveau Premier ministre de la République de Côte d’Ivoire

5 décembre 2010 by Le Magazine de la Diaspora Ivoirienne et des Ami(e)s de la Côte d’Ivoire

Par décret 2010 -309 du 05 décembre 2010 Monsieur Aké Gilbert Marie N’gbo nommé Premier ministre et Chef de gouvernement par son Excellence Laurent Gbagbo, Président de la République de Côte d’Ivoire.

Avant cette nomination, M. Aké Gilbert était le Recteur de l’Université de Cocody, à Abidjan

Biographie :

N`gbo Gilbert Marie AKE est né à Abidjan le 8 Octobre 1955.

PRINCIPALES QUALIFICATIONS
– Econométrie,
– Méthodes quantitatives,
– Microéconomie,
– Economie industrielle,
– Economie de la réglementation

LANGUES

– Français : lu/parlé/écrit : excellent
– Anglais : lu/parlé : moyen

FORMATION

– 1983: Doctorat de 3ème Cycle option économie mathématique et économétrie – Toulouse
– 1991: Doctorat en sciences économiques – Toulouse (France)
– 1993: Agrégation en sciences économiques option Statistique et Econométrie
– 1998: Professeur titulaire

PUBLICATIONS ET RECHERCHES

Travaux en cours:
– Service universel dans la fourniture d’eau et d’électricité en Côte d’Ivoire
– Analyse de la productivité dans l’industrie ivoirienne
– Les sources de l’innovation technologique en Afrique
– Frontière technologique et efficacité : une application aux firmes françaises
Revues Américaines

1992: Variation in productive efficiency in French Worker’s cooperatives, journal of productivity analysis (USA),Vol. N°3 PP 103-117 (en collaboration).

REVUES EUROPENNES

– 2000: Cross-subsidies and network expansion in developing countries European Economic Review, Vol. 44, 797 – 805 (en collaboration)
– 1994: L’efficacité productive des SCOP françaises : Estimation et simulation à partir d’une frontière de production stochastique, Revue Economique, (France) N°1 pp 115-128.
– 1991:
i) On frontier choice in technical efficiency analysis, CIRIEC WP91/01 Université de Liège (Belgique).
ii) Esprit communautaire et offre agricole : Une analyse théorique CIRIEC WP 91/03 Université de Liège.
– 1990: Elasticité prix de la demande de cacao et test d’exogénéité ; Economie Appliquée (France) N°4 pp 99-78

REVUES AFRICAINES

– 2007: Introduction à l’économie de la régulation. Mimeo CREMIDE mars 2007.
– 2006:
i) La régulation dans un contexte de pays en développement : enjeux et contraintes, Mimeo Décembre2006 (en collaboration)
ii) L’indépendance du régulateur, Mimeo Décembre 2006 (en collaboration)
iii) Régulation des services d’utilité publique en Côte d’Ivoire : cas des secteurs de l’eau, de l’électricité et des télécommunications.
– 2005: Régulation et Développement : l’expérience de la Côte d’Ivoire. Document préparé pour la table ronde en hommage à J.J. Laffont, Toulouse, 1er et 2 juillet 2005 (en collaboration)
– 2004: Frontière de dette et capacité d’endettement : une analyse des pays de l’UEMOA. Document présenté à l’Union Africaine
– 1998: Cross-subsidies and network expansion in developing countries (en collaboration) version préliminaire.
– 1997: Universel service in infrastructure service : A survey of Côte d’Ivoire experience, Mimeo.
– 1995: Ajustement structurel et Agriculture en Côte d’Ivoire Mimeo (en collaboration)
– 1994: La performance technique dans l’industrie Ivoirienne-Document présenté à la Conférence “African Economic Issues” Arusha, Tanzanie.
– 1988: Instabilité des recettes d’exportation des pays au sud du Sahara : Approches Bayesienne et non paramétrique. Revue Scientifique de l’ASDECI et Revue Economique de l’Afrique de l’Ouest

OUVRAGES COLLECTIFS

– 2001: Private sector participation in water supply and sanitation: Realizing social and environmental objectives in Abidjan – in Johnston N. and L. Woods (Eds) Private Firms and Public water – E.E. Publishing Limited.
– 1990: Evaluation des effets de la CEAO sur l’économie ivoirienne dans Intégration et Développement, Economica (France) pp. 133-165. (en collaboration)

EXPERIENCE PROFESSIONNELLE

3.1- Expérience académique

i- Enseignement (Universités d’Abidjan, de Dakar, Yaoundé, Douala, Lomé)
– Econométrie
– Méthodologie
– Microéconomie, Economie de la réglementation
– Professeur invité à l’université PMF de Grenoble.

ii- Direction de la recherche
– Direction et Jury de nombreux mémoires de DEA et de Thèses dans plusieurs Universités : Universités d’Abidjan, d’Afrique et d’Europe

3.2- Expérience administrative et de coordination

– Depuis 2010: président de l`Université de Cocody
– 2001 à 2007: Doyen de l’UFR Sciences Economiques et de Gestion de l’Université d’Abidjan- Cocody, Abidjan
– Depuis Mars 2007: Doyen honoraire de l’UFR Sciences Economiques et de Gestion de l’Université de Cocody Abidjan
– Depuis août 2007: Directeur de la Cellule d’Analyse de Politiques Economiques du CIRES (CAPEC)
– Depuis 2007: Président du Conseil Académique du Nouveau Programme de Troisième Cycle Interuniversitaire
– Depuis juillet 2002: Président du CTS des Sciences Economiques et de Gestion du CAMES
– 2002 à 2006: Vice-Président du Conseil Académique du Programme de Ph.D. interafricain
– 2002 à 2007: Président du Conseil Scientifique du Programme de Troisième Cycle Interuniversitaire
– 2003: Membre du Comité de présélection des commissaires de l’Union Africaine
– 1998-2000: Coordonateur des Programmes à la Conférence des Institutions d’Enseignement et de Recherche Economiques en Gestion d’Afrique (CIEREA)
– Membre fondateur du CREMIDE (Centre de Recherche Microéconomique du Développement)
– Responsable scientifique et des relations internationales du CREMIDE (UFRSEG)
– Coordonnateur de l’observatoire de l’opinion publique sur la démocratie et les droits de l’homme

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Bob Marley forced to choose between Black and White

5 décembre 2010 by Le Magazine de la Diaspora Ivoirienne et des Ami(e)s de la Côte d’Ivoire

Bob Marley preached inner peace and serenity to the masses, but was so racked by angst over his race that he used shoe polish to blacken his hair, according to a new book.

Such insecurities, during Marley’s teenage years in Kingston, Jamaica, contrast strongly with the reggae superstar’s image around the world.

He advocated spirituality and spread messages of peace in hits like One Love and No Woman No Cry.

During the early 1960s, Marley was torn between the influence of local Rastafarians and his own heritage. The son of a white father and black mother, he was essentially forced to choose between the two.

Marley’s widow, Rita, is quoted in the book – entitled I&I: The Natural Mystics: Marley, Tosh and Wailer – as saying that her husband was so racially sensitised and aware of bullying for having a fairer complexion that he asked her to « rub shoe polish in his hair to make it more black; make it more African ».

The author, Colin Grant, has interviewed members of Marley’s inner circle for the book, released in January. These include Marley’s late mother Cedella Booker and Chris Blackwell, founder of Island Records.

Grant explained: « When Marley moved to Trench Town in Kingston aged 13 he was thought of as a white man and would have got a lot of grief for that.

« His father was a so-called white man, who moved in white circles, and it was unusual… to marry a black lady. But he did. It’s interesting that Marley went on to do that as well. He married a very black lady, Rita, and that was a time when people married up and out of colour. He did exactly the opposite. »

While living in Trench Town, Marley met Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh, three of the instrumental figures who went on to form the Wailers in 1963.

By 1966 they were its only members. Their first major studio album, Catch a Fire, was released in 1973, and contains most of the group’s best known hits, including Get Up, Stand Up. Grant argues that Wailer and Tosh were as instrumental in popularising reggae as Marley, though it was he who has gone down in history as its figurehead.

Marley once reflected: « My father was a white and my mother was black. Them call me half-caste or whatever. Me don’t dip on nobody’s side. Me don’t dip on the black man’s side nor the white man’s side. Me dip on God’s side, the one who create me and cause me to come from black and white. »

Marley was born in 1945 in the village of Nine Mile, before moving to Kingston. His father, Norval Sinclair Marley, was a white Jamaican of English descent. Norval married Booker when she was 18, but died in 1955 when the artist-to-be was suffering widespread racial prejudice because of his skin colour.

While Grant says this part of Marley’s life is well known in Jamaica, the full detail of what befell the young singer has remained unexplored until now. Marley died in 1981.

S: independent.co.uk

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Prostitution: Spain the world capital

5 décembre 2010 by Le Magazine de la Diaspora Ivoirienne et des Ami(e)s de la Côte d’Ivoire

Spain, the world capital of prostitution

Europe’s largest brothel has just opened in a land where no fewer than 39 per cent of men admit to visiting sex workers

The Spanish economy may be dangerously close to meltdown this week but one area at least – prostitution – appears to be doing very nicely, thank you.

« Don Jose – cleanliness; Don Jose – discretion; Don Jose – security, and a patrolled car park, » half-whispers the calm female voice on a Granada radio station throughout the day. It is an advertisement for the city’s biggest and best-known brothel.

Cut to a Saturday night inside the said Don Jose « club » – three storeys high, flashing neon lights, two bars, a VIP zone and some 70 sex workers, clad in everything from nightgowns to G-strings to the very briefest of shorts – and, according to local regulars, business is booming. « The place is heaving every weekend, » comments « Alvaro », an experienced brothel-goer in his late forties. « These days in the afternoons and early evenings, you’ll get businessmen who’ve told their wives they’re at meetings. Then later on, there are hordes of 18- or 19-year-olds, just there to have a laugh and, if they want, have a quick lay as well. »

This is no exaggeration. Prostitution is so popular (and socially accepted) in Spain that a United Nations study reports that 39 per cent of all Spanish men have used a prostitute’s services at least once. A Spanish Health Ministry survey in 2009 put the percentage of one-time prostitute users at 32 per cent: lower than the UN figure, perhaps, but far higher than the 14 per cent in liberal-minded Holland, or in Britain, where the figure is reported to oscillate between 5 and 10 per cent. And that was just those men willing to admit it.

To meet this vast demand, an estimated 300,000 prostitutes are working in Spain – everywhere from clubs in town centres to industrial estates, to lonely country roads to roadside bars, the last often recognisable by gigantic neon signs of champagne bottles or shapely females, flashing away in the darkness. And recently, on the French border, Club Paradise opened with 180 sex workers, making it the biggest brothel in Europe.

As the clubs get larger, the clients get younger. According to studies carried out for the Spanish Association for the Social Reintegration of Female Prostitutes (Apramp), back in 1998 the typical client was a 40-year-old married male. By 2005, however, the average age had dropped to 30 – and it appears to be getting lower. « The kids are going because they see it as a quick way of getting what would take a lot longer to happen if they went to a disco, » Alvaro says. « You’ve got the money, you choose the woman you want and it’s all over and done with. » His own logic is even more brutal: « I go when I don’t have a girlfriend. »

There is no single reason, though, why prostitution should be so popular in Spain. Historically it has long been seen as an expression of individual freedom – first as a pressure valve for the strait-laced family-focused environment of the Franco years (when prostitution was quietly ignored), and then consolidating itself after the dictator died. Then, as now, brothels would be listed in the yellow pages, albeit under the coy title of « nightclubs », and nobody batted an eyelid. Among the young men of the Spanish provinces, even in the late 1980s, sleeping with a prostitute was no longer something you did as way of losing your virginity: it could actually be seen as cool.

In the 1990s, magazines such as Interviú, which prides itself on its investigative journalism, would think nothing of publishing « erotic guides to Spain ». Even today, all-male business dinners can end up in the local « club ». « Every now and then I have to take clients, » says one accountant who did not want to be named, « but it’s OK. They take credit cards. »

If the roots of Spain’s acceptance of prostitution ultimately lie with the sexual and personal repression of the Franco years, the most curious hangover from the sexual revolution is that, even today, most « ‘serious » newspapers carry adverts for prostitutes. In the Madrid issue of one major national daily, 75 or 80 per cent of small ads are for prostitutes, offering all manner of services with prices from ¤20 to ¤200. Plans to eliminate the so-called « contact ads » appear to be on a kind of permanent hold, partly justified by the precarious economic state of Spain’s print media.

However, the underbelly of a trade which is legal in Spain but not recognised as an actual job is far from pleasant, with human trafficking constantly rearing its ugly head. In 2009 alone, Spain’s Ministry of the Interior detected 17 international crime rings involved in sexual trafficking in Spain. Between January and April of this year, according to the newspaper El País, the authorities identified 493 cases of women sold into sexual slavery.

Yet that makes no difference, it seems, to the clients who pour through the doors of the brothels. « There is a clear lack of awareness as to what is going on, » says Marta Gonzalez, a spokeswomen for the Madrid-based NGO Proyecto Esperanza, which helps women who have been victims of trafficking. « Clients don’t realise that many of these women could be victims of trafficking. Lots of people would be more wary if the prostitutes were clearly under lock and key or had obviously been subject to physical abuse. They don’t realise that all it takes is a death threat to their families back in Nigeria or Brazil, and the woman is already being coerced into prostitution. »

The laws in Spain are of little help either, with prostitution currently a permitted activity – but with no labour rights. « They’re already frequently leading a double life or are considered social outcasts and often are in dire need of money, » said a Spanish Red Cross social worker running a healthcare programme for prostitutes. « Add the lack of legal rights, and they’re a clear target for exploitation. »

On top of that there’s Spain’s recession. « Economically the women I’m dealing with are at the end of their tether, and the lack of other employment possibilities makes everybody more nervous about keeping clients. In the process they put themselves at risk, too. They’ll be more willing to accept it when a client doesn’t want to use a condom, for example, to be sure they get him to sleep with them. »

When prostitution and trafficking overlap, the legal situation grows even more discouraging. « Glitches in the legislation mean that an identical crime is punished less severely here than, say, in Germany. » Ms Gonzalez says. « Forcing someone to prostitute themselves in Spain gets from two to four years in prison here, while human trafficking gets five to eight. But because the latter charge often can’t be proved effectively because of poor legislation, the criminal gets the lower sentence. »

Meanwhile, Spain’s sex trade continues to flourish. And, in one way, it is literally more visible than ever: recently, in an attempt to cut the number of road accidents, the police in Lerida, Catalunya, issued the prostitutes working in out-of-town lay-bys with fluorescent waistcoats.

S: independent.co.uk

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Ivory Coast- A situation like Rwanda or Kenya would be a nightmare

5 décembre 2010 by Le Magazine de la Diaspora Ivoirienne et des Ami(e)s de la Côte d’Ivoire

Former South African president Thabo Mbeki arrived in Ivory Coast on Sunday to try to mediate an end to a standoff over election results that were meant to resolve a north-south conflict but now threaten to renew it.

Incumbent Laurent Gbagbo was sworn in as president as the world’s top cocoa grower on Saturday even though the electoral commission declared his rival, Alassane Ouattara, winner of a Nov. 28 run-off election.

Ouattara submitted a rival oath to undertake the presidency and said he would start a parallel government.

« A situation like Rwanda or Kenya would be a nightmare, which we are working tirelessly to avoid, » South Africa’s envoy to Ivory Coast, Zodwa Lallie, told Reuters, noting similarities with Kenya’s election in 2007 when a disputed result degenerated into ethnic bloodshed that killed at least 1,300 people.

Mbeki was holding talks with Gbagbo at his presidential palace in the morning and was due later to meet Ouattara at the U.N.-guarded Abidjan hotel he is using as headquarters. South African officials said the Mbeki visit was due to last one day.

The Constitutional Council, the country’s highest legal organ with final word on the election and headed by an ally of Gbagbo, cancelled hundreds of thousands of votes in Ouattara bastions. It cited intimidation and fraud by rebel soldiers who run these areas, and declared Gbagbo the winner.

But the result had been certified by the U.N. peacekeeping envoy to Ivory Coast, Y.J. Choi, who received copies of the count from almost every polling station. He said that even if all the fraud allegations were true, they still could not have changed the outcome announced by the election commission.

The crisis in Ivory Coast, once West Africa’s brightest economic star, has sent cocoa futures up to two-week highs and forced up the risk premium on the country’s $2.3 billion Eurobond. It is currently yielding 11.67 percent, from below 10 percent after the first election round.

The vote was supposed to unite Ivory Coast after a 2002-03 war left the north in rebel hands. but that now seems unlikely.

Small-scale protests and tyre-burning broke out on Saturday in several towns, including the largest city, Abidjan, and in Bouake in the north. At least 15 people have been killed in violence associated with the election.

New Forces rebel commander Cherif Ousmane warned that his followers would « not rest for long without doing something » about Gbagbo if he continues to hold onto power. He did not specify what that would entail.

Gbagbo has controlled the country for a decade but now faces isolation and possibly sanctions, after his win was rejected by the United Nations, United States, France, the European Union, the African Union and West African bloc ECOWAS.

The United Nations has taken the unusually bold step of declaring Ouattara the winner and refusing to recognise Gbagbo.

The International Monetary Fund said on Friday it would not recognise his presidency unless the United Nations did – a factor that could dash hopes for relief of $3 billion in debt.

Gbagbo’s swearing-in was broadcast live on state TV and the head of the armed forces declared his continued allegiance to him the day before. Most diplomats boycotted the ceremony.

The exceptions were diplomats from Angola, a longtime Gbagbo ally, and Lebanon, which has a large expatriate community in Ivory Coast.

After the electoral panel announced provisional results giving Ouattara a win with 54.1 percent of the vote, several foreign broadcast media were taken off the air for their Ivory Coast audiences.

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Thabo Mbeki begins Ivory Coast political mission

5 décembre 2010 by Le Magazine de la Diaspora Ivoirienne et des Ami(e)s de la Côte d’Ivoire

Former South African President Thabo Mbeki has arrived in Ivory Coast for the African Union to help mediate in a political crisis, diplomats say.

Laurent Gbagbo and opposition candidate Alassane Ouattara have both sworn themselves in after claiming victory in a presidential run-off.

Mr Ouattara was initially declared the winner but the result was overturned in the incumbent’s favour.

The AU has warned the crisis could have « incalculable consequences ».

In a statement, the organisation rejected « any attempt to create a fait accompli to undermine the electoral process and the will of the people ».

It called on all parties to « show the necessary restraint and to refrain from taking actions which will exacerbate an already fragile situation ».

Several countries and international organisations – including the US, UN, France and the IMF – have backed Mr Ouattara as the true winner of last Sunday’s run-off.

Conflict fear

Mr Mbeki arrived at Abidjan airport on Sunday morning, the first time that the country’s borders had been opened since the crisis blew up on Thursday.

When he was president of South Africa, Mr Mbeki helped to mediate a peace deal in Ivory Coast.

The fear is that if he fails to find a way out, rebel groups in the north who support Mr Ouattara will take up arms in protest.

Mr Ouattara was declared the winner on Thursday by Ivory Coast’s Election Commission, but on Friday its ruling was overturned by the Constitutional Council, which is led by an ally of the incumbent, Mr Gbagbo.

Mr Gbagbo, who has the backing of the head of the country’s armed forces, was sworn in for a third term in office at the presidential palace on Friday afternoon.

He repeated the accusations of fraud that had led the council to discount large number of ballots in the north, where Mr Ouattara’s support is strongest.

« You think that you can cheat, stuff ballot boxes and intimidate voters and that the other side won’t see what is going on, » Mr Gbagbo said.

He also said he had noted « serious cases of interference » in recent days, referring to international disapproval of his return to power.

« We didn’t ask anyone to come and run our country. Our sovereignty is something I am going to defend, » he said.

‘Brief episode’

But within hours, Mr Ouattara, a former prime minister from the predominantly Muslim north of the country, was himself sworn in, at an Abidjan hotel guarded by UN peacekeepers.

He said the election had been « historic » and that he was proud of it, but that the last few days had been « difficult ».

« But it’s just a brief episode – I want to tell you that Ivory Coast is now in good hands, » he said.

Mr Ouattara immediately re-appointed Guillaume Soro as his prime minister. Mr Soro had tendered his resignation in Mr Gbagbo’s administration just hours earlier.

Mr Soro – who is the head of the New Forces rebels in the north – has warned that overturning the results threatens to derail attempts to stabilise and reunify the country after the 2002 civil war.

The political crisis has led to protests on the streets of the country’s main city of Abidjan, with opposition supporters saying Mr Gbagbo’s inauguration amounts to a coup d’etat.

At least four people have been killed in election-related clashes in Abidjan this week.

Ivory Coast has closed its borders and stopped broadcasts of international news media into the country. An overnight curfew remains in place.

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Thabo Mbeki Ex-South African president in Ivory Coast

5 décembre 2010 by Le Magazine de la Diaspora Ivoirienne et des Ami(e)s de la Côte d’Ivoire

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast — Former South African President Thabo Mbeki tried to mediate the nation’s growing political crisis Sunday as hundreds protested in the country’s north, a day after both candidates in the disputed election said they were now president.

In the opposition stronghold of Bouake, several hundred people marched down a main boulevard, calling for incumbent Laurent Gbagbo to stand down. They chanted « Gbagbo, thief! » and carried signs including one that read: « Ten years in power, nothing good. »

The international community has recognized opposition leader Alassane Ouattara as the winner of the presidential runoff vote held one week ago. That, however, did not stop incumbent Gbagbo from defying calls to concede. On Saturday, he wrapped himself in the Ivorian flag as he was sworn in for another term at the presidential palace. Hours later, Ouattara told reporters that he too had been sworn into office.

The development effectively set up parallel governments and raised serious questions about who was actually in charge of Ivory Coast, which was split into two by a civil war eight years ago. Despite Ouattara’s international support, Gbagbo holds many of the key elements of power, including the army and the state media.

« The risk of violence between supporters of the two parties, as well as repression by Ivorian security forces against real or perceived supporters of Ouattara, is very high, » Corinne Dufka, senior West Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch, said.

The former South African president arrived in Ivory Coast’s main city of Abidjan on Sunday, according to aides for both candidates. He met with Gbagbo at his residence Saturday afternoon, said Augustin Gehoum, a Gbagbo aide.

At his swearing-in, Gbagbo renewed allegations that his supporters had been intimidated in the north, repeating the rationale used by the country’s constitutional council to throw out a half million ballots that were cast in Ouattara strongholds.

« You think that you can cheat, stuff ballot boxes and intimidate voters and that the other side won’t see what is going on, » Gbagbo said.

Ivory Coast’s long-awaited presidential election was meant to restore stability in what was once one of the most affluent countries in Africa. Instead, the election has cast a growing shadow as the country now faces two political rivals who each claim to be leading the country.

Gbagbo says he is the rightful winner of the runoff vote, citing the Ivorian constitution that gives ultimate authority on the issue to the country’s constitutional council, which declared him the winner.

However, Ouattara points to the 2007 peace deal, which states that the United Nations must certify the election results. The U.N. maintains the vote was credible, and that Ouattara won the presidential election.

The country was placed on lockdown immediately after the commission announced Ouattara’s win on Thursday, with a decree read on state TV saying the nation’s air and land borders had been closed. However, borders remained open in the country’s north, and residents there also were not observing the nationwide curfew.

Gbagbo’s five-year mandate expired in 2005 and the country’s first election in a decade was delayed multiple times. He claimed first that the country was too volatile and that security could not be assured. He later cited technicalities like the composition of the voter roll.

The election went ahead in October but then headed to a runoff vote last Sunday. The country’s election commission announced Thursday that Ouattara had won. However, new results released Friday on national television by a Gbagbo loyalist who heads the constitutional council said that the incumbent president had in fact been re-elected.

A former International Monetary Fund economist, Ouattara became the icon of Ivory Coast’s downtrodden immigrant community in a nation that became a magnet in the region because of its prosperity. Ouattara, born in the north, had been prevented from running in previous elections after accusations that he was not Ivorian, and that he was of Burkinabe origin.