Côte d’Ivoire and Benin: Different but not Parallel Trajectories

Abstract

West Africa has long been a region of migrations. In pre-colonial times, war, trade and the search for greener pastures, fertile land and security led people to migrate across the region. Since European penetration and colonization, migration patterns have changed but have continued unabated, despite and against borders. The expansion of wage labor and the development of means of transportation have contributed further to the flow of people, goods and services. With the Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS) Protocol on Free Movement of Persons and the Right of Residence and Establishment of May 1979, the integration of the region is accelerating at a rapid pace with people fleeing conflict zones, running away from poverty, hopelessness, and repressive governments, and seeking new opportunities away from their own village or towns. A remarkable feature of all those migrations is that language has not been a major issue, except for politicians or ethnic or flag chauvinists.