A picture is worth a thousand words.
The 566-kilometre-long Ivorian coastline stretching from the Assinie France district in eastern Côte d'Ivoire to the city of Tabou in the west is under threat of coastal erosion with an impact on people and the economy. A natural phenomenon certainly, but accentuated in recent years by global warming and human activity, including sand dredging.
In its race towards land, the sea is now eyeing a myriad of udders of the national economy. The Ivorian Refining Company, Félix Houphouët-Boigny Airport and the Ports of Abidjan and San-Pedro are, almost, face to face with this vast expanse of raging water. The distance between them and the shore is only 80 meters, or even a little less.
The threat of encompassing is real. The urgency is therefore  reported. The Autonomous Port of Abidjan alone is the lungs of the Ivorian economy, with 26 million tons  of goods registered per year. The coastal zone accounts for 90% of Côte d'Ivoire's customs revenue. Without false evasion, coastal erosion presents itself as a danger to the Ivorian economy.
The sea continues to progress, between one and two meters per year, on average. From August 25 to 26, 2011, she advanced 10 meters, devouring, in one night, everything on her way in the commune of Port-Bouet in Abidjan. On the same site, which was damaged about 10 years ago, the construction of the largest amusement park in West Africa is planned.
This largest amusement park in West Africa is, without a doubt, for these developers an urban development intended to beautify the city of Abidjan, like the bay of Cocody, still under construction. But what is the point of carrying out such a work, at several tens of billions FCFA, if it is constantly threatened with being swallowed up, even before it comes out of the ground? What if this large amount, which sooner or later became a lost investment, were used to slow down the advance of the waters?
While waiting to find effective solutions, coastal erosion continues to cause a lot of damage. And not least. The lighthouse that indicates the entrance to the port to the boats, is no longer out of danger. Those days are even numbered. The one in Grand-Lahou was moved twice, before falling all the way into the water. The port of San-Pedro has seen its facilities destroyed several times, before being rebuilt. But until when? The civil prison of Grand-Lahou, one of the legacies of colonization, will never receive residents again. She, too, ended her story under water.
For many years, Côte d'Ivoire has suffered the "wrath" of "Mother Nature". In 1973, following coastal erosion, the city of Grand-Lahou was moved nearly 20 kilometers to N'zida, its current site. Lahou-Kpanda has also been pushed back a kilometre and a half to date. This fishing village may even be wiped off the map, if nothing is done. In 1966, the town of Fresco was moved for miles. Worse, then a French colony, The Ivory Coast experienced a Tsunami in 1942 that ravaged the historic city of Assinie.
Local populations are facing the destruction of their homes and the disruption of their livelihoods (ocean and freshwater resources). Populations forced to resolve to migration, with its share of desolations and various conflicts that it can cause.
While coastal erosion, a natural phenomenon, cannot be prevented, it can be curbed. As such, the Ivorian government benefits from the support of the World Bank for the implementation of a Regional Investment project for the Resilience of Coastal Zones in West Africa (WACA).
As part of this project, concerted action between all stakeholders, populations, local elected officials, the government, the private sector, civil society, development partners and donors, was recommended to build with nature, at the risk of being defeated by it.

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