More cocoa beans
are being smuggled from Ivory Coast to Ghana, farmers told Reuters on
Thursday, as exporters halt shipments from the world’s top grower and
global prices hit a one-year high.
Top exporters are
complying with presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara’s call for a ban
on exports, in a bid to starve incumbent Laurent Gbagbo of revenues.
Mr. Gbagbo has
refused to quit despite United Nations-certified results of a November
28 poll showing rival, Alassane Ouattara, won.
While the overall
amount of contraband cocoa crossing into Ivory Coast’s eastern
neighbour was hard to establish, farmers in border regions cited
evidence of increased activity.
