“You pass the Golf Pharmacy on your right, you take a left at the crossroads, then you pass the former Leader Price; it will be at the second traffic light near the maquis and the fruit vendors. In Abidjan, giving your address to a craftsman, a delivery person or a friend is often a treasure hunt. A habit that the Ivorian authorities hope to reform thanks to the major addressing project (change of street names and creation of addresses) initiated in 2017 and which is due to end next year.

Initially, 34 boulevards and 211 avenues in the economic capital are affected. The list was presented to the Council of Ministers and unveiled on July 24 by Bruno Koné, the Minister of Construction, Housing and Urban Planning, in a long interview with Fraternité Matin, the largest Ivorian newspaper, controlled by the government. State. The axes concerned and their names were selected on the proposal of a college composed of experts and personalities of the country “who have no reason to be complacent in the mission entrusted to them”, underlined the Minister for guard against criticism.

Many observers, however, did not fail to point out the overrepresentation of politicians in the list: presidents, opponents, ministers (former or current governments) and personalities who have marked political history. , military, cultural and sports of Côte d’Ivoire. Much emphasis has also been given to values ??such as solidarity, freedom and hospitality.

French presidents replaced

Result: French presidents Valéry Giscard d’Estaing and François Mitterrand lose their boulevards, replaced respectively by the first Ivorian president, Félix Houphouët-Boigny, and the writer and politician Germain Coffi Gadeau (on a first stretch), and the first lady, Dominique Ouattara (on a second section). An act that follows the opinion of Ivorians and has “no political overtones”, assures the ministry. Boulevard de France thus becomes boulevard Marie-Thérèse-Houphouët-Boigny, named after the wife of the father of independence, and boulevard de Marseille will now be called boulevard Philippe-Yacé, one of the founders of the Ivorian republic. , who lived in this street.

Another list of 2,500 street names, already validated by the Council of Ministers, must be communicated in the coming days, according to the Ministry of Urban Planning. And another 5,500 will follow in the coming months. A total of 14,000 axes will be addressed.

Funded to the tune of 15 million dollars (approximately 13.6 million euros) by the World Bank, the project aims to provide an address to the inhabitants and professionals of the thirteen municipalities of Abidjan. In a city of 6 million people, the challenge is no small one. A first addressing had been carried out during colonization, then some street names and so-called alphanumeric codes (B25, L231…) for the axes of the main municipalities appeared under the presidency of Henri Konan Bédié (1993-1999). But the project has “never managed to settle in the collective memory,” said Minister Bruno Koné.

After the preliminary studies launched in 2017, the National Office for Technical Studies and Development (BNETD) is responsible for implementing the project. Investigators crisscross the city to photograph and reference each house or dwelling, even under construction. According to the ministry, more than half of the economic capital has already been covered and some of the addresses will be operational “before the end of the year”.

Improve tax revenue

On a daily basis, addressing is supposed to improve the orientation and circulation of populations, but also of public and emergency services, e-commerce and mail delivery companies. “We will also experience an increase in bank credit, thinks economist and teacher-researcher Séraphin Prao. Without an address, banks are reluctant to lend. When you apply, you have to specify where you live, but what proves that this person lives in this street? With addressing, the banker can verify and this will reduce the banking risk. »

The gain should be significant for the State in terms of tax policy. “In Côte d’Ivoire, the recovery rate is low, recalls the economist. The tax burden is only around 15%, due to fraud. But with street addressing, coupled with the housing census, we will know who lives where, what the person does and what they can give to the State. It will therefore be easier to collect tax and improve tax revenue. »

Will all streets be affected? For the geographer and lecturer Gilbert Yassi, specialist in urban services in sub-Saharan Africa, there is a risk that precarious neighborhoods will be neglected. The ministry concedes that these perpetually changing neighborhoods are still too poorly structured (located in flood-prone areas, composed of streets and anarchic houses, etc.) to be referenced. “The addressing project puts them on hold,” laments the researcher. However, it must be ensured that they are legal and have an address. This is crucial, otherwise it will dig a gap between the populations of the same metropolis. »