The New Yorker, May 14, 1984 P. 52

REPORTER AT LARGE about the Ivory Coast, W. Africa, a former French colony, which is generally held to be a political & economic success. Since its independence in 1960 it has been ruled by Felix Houphouet-Boigny. He has ruled well. He used the French as technicians, advisers, administrators; & with no ready-made mineral wealth, with the resources only of tropical forests & fields, he made his country rich. It imports labor from its more depressed or chaotic African neighbors. Labor immigration as much as natural increase has raised the population from 3 million in 1960 to 9 million today. Abidjan, the capital has become one of the biggest ports in W. Africa. The boom has now abated. From a peak in 1977, coffee & cocoa prices dropped by half & oil-exploration people have been leaving. 150 miles inland the President's ancestral village of Yamoussoukro has been transformed. The President would like it to be one of the great cities of Africa & the world. Tells about its ultra-modern splendor. Down one side of the Presidential palace there is an artificial lake into which have been introduced man-eating crocodiles. These are totemic, emblematic creatures & they belong to the President. There were no crocodiles in Yamoussoukro before. No one knows precisely what they mean. The crocodiles are fed with fresh meat every day. People can go & watch. Most visitors are tourists. Writer gives long account of a visit & discusses the crocodile ritual which is mysterious. He interviews a number of people, mainly expatriates, about the Ivory Coast. He learns that life in the interior is truly African. Daytime city life with its Western influence is not the real Africa.

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