Ivory Coast Cocoa Exports to Resume in Days, UN Envoy Says

Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara will soon announce the resumption of cocoa exports, the nation’s envoy to the United Nations said, predicting that the country’s economy will recover quickly following the conflict to remove Laurent Gbagbo from office.

“There is a ban on cocoa exports, so he will make an announcement that the ban is lifted in the coming days,” Ambassador Youssoufou Bamba, speaking at his nation’s UN mission in New York, said of Ouattara. “The Ivorian economy is very strong. As soon as the fighting in Abidjan will be over, everything will get back to normal very quickly.”

Exports from the world’s leading cocoa producer fell 7.8 percent in the past two weeks on optimism that Ouattara’s victory was imminent. Cocoa futures for July delivery dropped $12 today, or 0.4 percent, to $3,002 a ton in New York.

“This is another negative for prices,” said Thomas Mikulski, a senior strategist at Lind-Waldock, a broker in Chicago. “This is more a psychological thing, and people want to hear that the fight is over and cocoa flow is stabilized.”

Despite the ban, some cocoa was being smuggled, so the flow from Ivory Coast never stopped completely, Mikulski said.

The conflict was triggered by Gbagbo’s refusal to accept his loss in the Nov. 28 election to Ouattara, who is recognized by the international community as the winner. Gbagbo has retreated to a bunker in his house and has rejected offers to end the standoff peacefully.

Ban in Washington

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in Washington to meet with U.S. lawmakers at the Capitol, called on Gbagbo to step down quickly.

“He has to mind the well-being, safety and security and prosperity of his people,” Ban said of Gbagbo. “This is the last opportunity to gracefully exit from this.”

Bamba said Ouatarra would move quickly to “form an open, inclusive government” that will be a “reflection on the legitimacy granted to him by the Ivorian people.” It will be “devoted to good governance, transparency, accountability and, of course, to peace and reconciliation,” he said.

(Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-07/ivory-coast-cocoa-exports-to-resume-within-days-un-envoy-says.html)