Resettlement village built by Chinese company brings new life to villagers in northern Cote d’Ivoire

Published: May 23,2024

Just 15 km north of the northern town of Ferkessedougou in Cote d’Ivoire, rows of new houses painted red and yellow stood out against blue sky and green trees. Under the sun, children played football on a flat field while several women carried washed clothes to dry.

“The conditions in the village we lived in were very poor. There was no running water, no electricity, and almost nothing,” Doulaye Silue, the chief of Soromadjoukaha village, sitting in front of his new house, told us what the village used to be like. To prepare for the construction of the dry port in northern Cote d’Ivoire, the Ivorian Branch of China National Complete Plant Import and Export Group Corporation Limited (Complant), with the support and cooperation of the local government, began building new homes in the three natural villages impacted by the project on June 1, 2022. 

On Dec. 16, 2023, the keys to the new village were handed over to the villagers in the presence of the Ivorian Minister of Defense Tene Birahima Ouattaraand the Ivorian Minister of Transport AmadouKone. “We speak the same dialect and have always been like a family. Now, we have all moved to the new village, and our relationship is closer,” Silue said.

The deal to build the dry port of Ferkessedougou was signed during the 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. It covers an area of 740 hectares. When completed, the project will greatly alleviate the throughput pressure of the Abidjan port in southern Cote d’Ivoire and enhance the economic potential of northern Cote d’Ivoire and inland areas of West Africa, such as Mali and Burkina Faso.  “To build the dry port and improve the local people’s lives, we moved all the people living in the dry port area to the resettlement village,” said Luo Lin, Complant’s site manager of the dry port. According to him, the resettlement village has 200 houses, including 188 three-bedroom units and 12 four-bedroom units. It also has a hospital with maternity and general outpatient clinics, a primary school with a football field and canteen, and a computer-equipped multi-functional hall. 

“We attach great importance to the lives of the resettled people in the new village. We will consider all the needs, whether it is basic living conditions, health, study or entertainment,” Luo said. He said the project will also allow villagers to participate actively in the construction of the dry port. “With new homes and jobs, the villagers have received tangible benefits so that our project can proceed more smoothly,” he said.

Kone Adja used to live in the village of Dekokaha. This year, he joined the port’s construction team as a bricklayer along with other young people from his village. “I never thought that one day I would be able to participate in such a large project. Now, I can use my own hands to contribute to my hometown. I am grateful and very proud,” he said. 

Soro Madou, a young man from Soromadjoukahavillage, said everyone is satisfied with the new village and grateful to the Chinese company. “Compared to the past, the changes here are huge. The new village not only has water and electricity but also has medical treatment at our doorstep,” he said. “Life in the new village is truly convenient,” Madou said.  E

Xinhua