Since its opening on August 12, it has been the attraction. At nightfall, dozens of Abidjanais from all social classes flock to immortalize the new bridge in the economic capital. Lit with the orange, white and green lights of the Ivorian flag, it was named after the president in office since 2011: Alassane Ouattara. “We no longer need a visa to go to Europe, it’s better than the Eiffel Tower”, exclaims a biker, who like dozens of people parked their vehicle for a few minutes in the right lane to admire the book, one more in an economic capital in full metamorphosis.
For some, the 630-meter bridge looks like a long kora, the emblematic musical instrument of West Africa, whose strings would be the stays and the handle the imposing pylon more than 100 meters high. For some Ivorian feminists, the shape of the structure looks like a huge clitoris and the bridge will be, they assure on social networks, the place of future struggles. Designed by the influential architect Pierre Fakhoury, it connects the rich municipalities of Cocody and the Plateau and harmoniously recalls the modernist architecture of the Saint-Paul cathedral of the Italian Aldo Spirito located at the end of the bridge, on the side of the Plateau.
“It’s a beautiful work, a new landmark in the city, says the Ivorian architect Guillaume Koffi, of the Koffi cabinet
Initiated in 2019, the work took four years, instead of the two initially planned. Due to the Covid-19 epidemic which particularly affected China, with whom Côte d’Ivoire was working on this project. Supposed to decongest the heavy traffic in Abidjan, the bridge should be used daily by 30,000 to 50,000 vehicles. “Its route and its effectiveness in smoothing traffic are obviously questionable,” notes Mr. Koffi, however. Some have already made fun of the first traffic jams seen on the bridge in recent days.
The “Second Ivorian Miracle”
A year after taking the presidency, in 2012, the head of state had made “emergence in 2020” his main slogan; a leitmotif that he then abandoned as the deadline approached. But like Félix Houphouët-Boigny, the first Ivorian president, Alassane Ouattara wants to leave an image of a builder whose major works are also a political tool. During the inauguration on August 12, the Head of State even allowed himself a touch of political humor.
“Remember, [in 2014] on the occasion of the inauguration of the Henri Konan Bédié bridge [former Ivorian president who died on August 1], my eldest said: “This bridge is worth another mandate. I would say, this bridge is worth several other terms, “said the president re-elected in 2020 for a third term and who did not rule out the possibility of running for a fourth term, drawing loud applause from officials and activists. For some observers, the timing of this inauguration is not fortuitous, as local elections are looming on September 2. The president had also inaugurated the Ebimpé Olympic stadium in the north of Abidjan a few weeks before the last presidential election.
In Abidjan, the policy of major works is in full swing. From the bridge, you can see the Félix-Houphouët-Boigny stadium in the distance, undergoing rehabilitation work. The enclosure has been enlarged to accommodate 40,000 spectators and brought up to standard for the AFCON in early 2024. Below the bridge, the bay of Cocody has been fitted out in order to install a marina there. A metro crossing the metropolis from north to south should see the light of day in a few years. And at the exit of the bridge, difficult to miss the works of the future Tower F, announced as one of the highest in Africa.
These achievements are part of what politicians and citizens are already dubbing the “second Ivorian miracle”, a period of strong economic growth after years of crisis. The first took place after independence, in the 1960s and 1970s, thanks in particular to the fallout from cocoa, of which the country is still the world’s leading producer. The Hôtel Ivoire opened in 1963 and the Plateau pyramid in 1973 were undoubtedly the most beautiful symbols of this, along with the Saint-Paul cathedral built in the early 1980s.
“The cost is exorbitant”
But large structures can sometimes hide more difficult realities for workers. According to figures from the Ivorian authorities, the work on the Alassane Ouattara bridge led by the National Bureau of Technical Studies and Development (BNETD) and the Chinese company China Road and Bridge Corporation generated 3,000 jobs, many of which were precarious. Workers went on strike on August 21 to demand payment of their dues amounting to 300,000 CFA francs each (about 450 euros). Some had already gone on strike in April due to poor working conditions offered by subcontracting companies. They regretted not benefiting from their weekly rest day promised in their contract and ensured that they were not properly covered in the event of an accident.
Same observation a few hundred meters further at the level of tower F, built day and night by the Ivorian company PFO Africa and the Belgian construction group Besix. “It’s hard work and badly paid. I earn around 70,000 CFA francs every fortnight [some 100 euros]. It is an honor to work on this tower, but an honor without gain is difficult. If it is the pride of the country, our conditions must be improved,” implores a young worker specializing in laying concrete in a subcontracting company.
“The cost of new infrastructure is exorbitant compared to what is being done in other areas,” adds Gilbert Yassi, a geographer specializing in African urban services. For a country emerging from more than two decades of crisis, everything has to be redone, everything is a priority, but one has the impression that the priority is focused on road infrastructure and bridges. But next to it, there is school, health, two sectors that need investment just as much. »
The Alassane Ouattara Bridge cost 113 billion CFA francs (about 170 million euros), Tower F had an initial budget of 250 billion CFA francs before its height was reduced for financial reasons, and the work on the Abidjan metro is expected to cost nearly 2 billion euros.
To the detriment of the most precarious
Spokesperson for PPA-CI, the opposition party led by Laurent Gbagbo, Justin Katinan Koné deemed this bridge “totally useless” on the sidelines of a meeting in Abidjan on August 15. “The majority of comments on this infrastructure is beauty. The bridge is beautiful and people are starving,” he said annoyed.
In this policy of major works, concrete and the car take the greatest place. The architect Guillaume Koffi regrets that private or public initiatives do not give more prominence to green spaces and soft mobility: “The idea is not to transpose the European model. Other examples correspond better to our climates, such as Brazilian, Australian or Vietnamese cities. »
If the city is transformed, it is often done to the detriment of the poorest. Thousands of so-called anarchic houses and shops have thus been razed for the spaces dedicated to these major works. Some, like the inhabitants of the Boribana district, on the crossing of the fourth bridge, fought to be compensated. Others have been relocated elsewhere, but far from the center.
“After the destruction of their precarious neighborhood called Washington in Cocody, the inhabitants were relocated to Abobo, precisely to Biabou, towards the city of Alépé”, in the far north of the city, says for example Gilbert Yassi. Gentrification drives the most precarious away from the centre. The researcher also explains that the State had launched a social housing policy for the poorest in Songon. “But here, all the slices of housing delivered were diverted and sold to the wealthiest at more than 15 million CFA francs, he assures, where, at the start, it was expected that it would cost 5 million. »
Since Alassane Ouattara came to power in 2011, real estate construction has never been so good in Côte d’Ivoire. Abidjan sees his face change every day and his body grow. Suburbs such as Anyama and Bingerville once considered remote have now become suburbs of an ever-growing Ivorian metropolis.
