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afrol News, 24 August - The UN Secretary-General yesterday was in Côte d'Ivoire; the first stop on his African roundtrip. Here, he expressed relief over the political calm and the beginning economic recovery after years of crisis. Kofi Annan has embarked on a series of official visits to African countries, culminating with his participation at the World Summit for Sustainable Development, which gets under way next week in South Africa. Yesterday, in response to a long-standing invitation, he visited Côte d'Ivoire, where he had a meeting with President Laurent Gbagbo. During the Abidjan meeting, Annan praised President Gbagbo for the seeming "political calm and the beginnings of reconciliation" in his country. These developments would allow the government "to concentrate on the country's economic and social problems and to encourage investors to return," the Secretary-General said. A 1999 coup and highly controversial elections in 2001 had created deep political divisions and, on several occasions, political violence. A serious process of reconciliation had started with the acceptance of opposition presidential candidate Alassane Ouattara and the participation of his RDR party in government earlier this year. Even if international finance has started returning to the country, Côte d'Ivoire is set to suffer from the 1999-2001 political disruption for years to come, in economic terms. Kofi Annan over the last years has led efforts to assure Côte d'Ivoire's return to political stability and reconciliation and the return of international capital to the country. Roundtrip Annan's visit comes after the UN Security Council earlier this month approved the establishment of a UN Mission in Angola, which is to provide a more coordinated response to the changing atmosphere in the country following the death of rebel leader Jonas Savimbi and recent peace efforts between the government and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), the UN reports. Later next week, the Secretary-General is slated to also visit Botswana, Lesotho and Mozambique, before arriving in Johannesburg, South Africa on 1 September for the start of the Summit's high-level segment. During the past week, as part of his private holidays, the Secretary-General and his wife, Nane, had visited development projects in Annan's native Ghana. Here, he saw firsthand how people can take charge of improving their own living conditions. Among other destinations, they visited the Nwodua Community project in the Ghanaian north, where they saw a vocational training centre, a day care centre, a water system and an agro-forestry project. The Annan family finished their holidays a few days ago.
Sources: Based on UN sources. and afrol archives
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