Ivory Coast may lose ADB to Ghana

Ivory Coast may lose the headquarters of the African Development Bank in Abidjan because of its civil war, Nigeria's Minister of Information, Jerry Gana, said in Abidjan on Thursday.

The haedquartes will probably move to Ghana

If it had not been for Nigeria, the deadline for Ivory Coast to end its civil war before February or forfeit the bank's headquarters would have not been extended to March, he said.

Governors of the bank met in Ghana last December to take a final decision on the February deadline, but Nigeria pleaded for an extension to grant Ivory Coast more time to end its internal crisis, he said.

The board of governors of the bank, comprising Ministers of Finance and the heads of the central banks of the member-countries, are due to meet again in March over the crisis and the fate of the headquarters of the African Development Bank in Abidjan, Gana said.

Ethnic rivalries and conflicts over the government of Ivory Coast had degenerated into armed conflicts and plunged the country into a civil war since September, he said.

The war between rebels and government troops in the former French colony had caused the operations of the bank to decline, he said.

The African Development Bank, which is supported by 77 nations from Africa, North and South America, Europe and Asia, grants soft loans to member-countries and makes grants to enable them to carry out development projects.

Rebel leaders and the Ivorian government are currently attending a peace meeting in France brokered by the former colonial master.