Another day, another West African country.  This time, it’s Cote d’Ivoire.  One of my clients is a manufacturing company here.  They are from the last cohort, but due to a lot of missed schedules, visa hassles and transformation session priorities, I’m only just getting out here for my introductory session with them.  I’m sorry it took so long, because I’ve fallen in love with this place.  I’d angled for a Francophone country and lucked out.

Abidjan skyline from my hotel room window

Ivoirians share the same welcoming spirit I’ve enjoyed everywhere in Africa.  Traffic is better than Accra and (obviously) Lagos.  The spirit is even more laid back than Ghana, but the service I encountered is quite good.  The weather is very mild, although this is relative.  My prior lessons in sweating came in handy here.  The heart of Abidjan is quite modern and the food is excellent.  I guess that’s one good thing the French colonial masters left behind.  The other is their language

Termite mound – nature’s sawmill

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Finally, my years of French classes and living in Tours have paid off.  I am actually able to ask directions to the bathroom and understand the response!  No telling what I’ll find there, but mission accomplished.  Actually, I’ve done a bit better than that.  When I first land in a Francophone country, it takes about a day for me to get up and really rolling.  This is good, because on the second day I had to interview all of the staff, none of whom spoke English.  Since the CEO didn’t have to do the translating, people could really open up to me in a one on one setting.  It was rewarding to find that I could get a good feel for the whole company – from technical operations to human relations.

Spy for the competitors?

Unfortunately, the police shakedowns occur here as well. The gentleman who gave me a ride to the airport was the target this time.  We paused outside departures to unload my bags – which required pulling the key from the ignition.  Several gendarmes with AK-47s descended on us immediately, shouting about stopping there.  Fair enough, pull out.  We’d been stopped for about 15 seconds.  Well, the car was old and reluctant to start.  I finally got out and pushed, and we got a successful bump start.  Total elapsed time:  about 2 minutes, and the vehicle was never unattended.

Apparently this was not good enough.  The weekend was approaching and these guys needed money for partying.  They waved us over to the curb further on and before you knew it, slapped a boot on the back and issued a “ticket” for about $20 – a steep sum for folks here.  Maybe even a day’s pay for this fellow.  Of course, the big guns and uniforms apparently gave these cops the “right” to shake someone down like this.  Egregious, but a fact of life here.  Corruption is rampant at all levels.  The honest people (i.e. the vast majority) address this by doing anything from paying up, to pretending not to understand, to getting up in the faces of those abusing power.  Unfortunately, there’s no arguing with a boot.