Côte d’Ivoire closed its land borders in 2020 to limit the spread of the coronavirus. But unlike the rest of the sub-region, this measure is still in force, to the despair of carriers.
With our correspondent in Abidjan, Marine Jeannin
Until March 2020, Sylla Pape Anzoumane’s daily newspaper was on the road between Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire. But since the Covid-19 pandemic, land borders have been closed and international buses stopped. So at over 60, the Guinean had to find another job. ” Everyone was put on technical unemployment. Myself who am there, I converted myself as a delivery man. I have a car, I buy water from the Lebanese and I supply the shops, for 200 francs. »
The Union of Road Drivers of West Africa, Mauritania and Morocco, Ucrao, has appealed to the Ivorian government to reopen the borders and allow them to resume their activities. The 24,000 employees in the sector are now without income, according to figures from its secretary general, Daouda Bamba. ” Almost 300 companies, both Ivorian and non-Ivorian, reside in Côte d’Ivoire to transport people between states. And today, all these 300 companies are bankrupt. Because it will be three years that these companies do not exercise, are inactive and pay their taxes. »
Asked about this point during the press conference following the Council of Ministers on November 9, the government spokesman, Amadou Coulibaly, invoked ” security reasons and promised that ” as soon as the situation allows, the Ministry of the Interior and Security will take all the necessary measures “.
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