ABSTRACT
In many of its principal characteristics the Ivory Coast economy is strikingly different from other national economies of tropical Africa. Arriving from neighbouring countries one is immediately struck by its relatively high prosperity, and according to two recent studies attempting to measure relative levels of living it ranks at least among the top six or seven tropical African countries. Although it is mainly dependent on agricultural exports for its prosperity and has a significant number of white settlers, African farmers dominate in the production of major cash crops. It has strong economic links with several other African economies. It has no balance of payments problem; there have been no big development schemes in its economic history; the transition from colony to nation was made smoothly and without economic setback; and attempts to attract foreign private investors are a major, and strikingly successful, part of current development policy.
