Art Means Business

Today Africa, we draw your attention to the beautiful country of Cote d’Ivoire and what is happening in that countries art scene. But first a bit of context.For those of you who don’t know - Cote d’Ivoire attained independence from the French on the 7th of August 1960. Her first president was Felix Houphouet-Boigny, who ruled the country until 1993. After Felix Houphouet-Boigny ended, Cote d’Ivoire has experienced a coup d’etat, in 1999, and two religious - grounded civil wars. The first two took place between 2002 and 2007 and the second during 2010 – 2011. Cote d’Ivoire has an income per capita (US$1014.4). She has the largest economy on the West African Economic and Monetary Union constituting 40% of the monetary union’s total GDP. She is the largest exporter of cocoa beans averaging US$2, 53 billion in earnings per year. Cote d’Ivoire also has 100,000 rubber farmers who earned an average of US$105 million per year. The country’s economy is largely market-based and still relies heavily on agriculture, with