2023-08-23 22:15:36
North of Abidjan, in the sub-prefecture of Tiassalé, there is an archaeological park little known outside Côte d’Ivoire, but included on the tentative list of UNESCO heritage: Ahouakro Park , which extends over 120 hectares. It is home to megaliths – prehistoric monuments – dated from -2300 to -2150 million years before our era. It has been frequented for several years by tourists from Abidjan, Ivorians and foreigners alike. But the economy around this ecotourism is opaque, and the inhabitants of the village of Ahouakro complain of not seeing the benefits.
From our special correspondent in Ahouakro,
Ahouakro Park is endowed with lush vegetation, old megaliths and vestiges of vanished civilizations. ” We are in a dolmen. Above our heads, the table is carried by the tops of these three panels, pillars, in an inclined plane. Any dolmen, throughout the world, has a burial, cultural and religious function. But here, in Ivory Coast, no research has yet been done says Raymond Ekoum Kauphy, a resident of the village of Ahouakro.
These are assets that he has been able to transform for several years into a profitable business by improvising as a tourist guide. “ Visitors pay 1 000 CFA francs per head for the village coffers, and the land chief, in charge of the rituals, asks you for a gallinaceous, for example a chicken, and a liqueur. And all the visitors contribute to give a tip to the guide that I am “, he explains. ” I have no status, I am not paid as such. I am patient, I have faith that one day everything will be well normalized, structured, so that I can have a status and a salary to live from what I do. »
“We would like the authorities to give us subsidies…”
In fact, groups of visitors generally pay 15 to 20,000 CFA francs. According to Raymond Ekoum Kauphy, the site receives 15 to 20 tourists per month, up to 35 in high season. But for the time being, the tourist economy of Ahouakro is opaque, and the guide is the only one to hold the purse strings, recognizes the head of land, N’Guessan Kouamé.
« The park brings me almost nothing, we do not receive donations “, he regrets. “ We would like the authorities to give us subsidies. Visitors come to look at the stones and leave, but I don’t receive them, I don’t know how many there are. What does it bring? I don’t know, it’s Raymond who knows. »
“We win nothing”
This money, the inhabitants of this small village of planters say they have never seen the color. One of them, Wilfried Brou Kouamé, landed in a small maquis near the entrance to the park… A beer in hand, he is used to seeing tourists pass by.
« It makes us happy to see people come to visit our site… But in reality, we don’t earn anything “says Wilfried Brou Kouamé. ” There are plenty of things to do [dans le village]. There is a lack of electricity. We want a water tower in the village. We also want the village to be a bit tarred, from Singrobo to Ahouakro, and the streets also to be a bit tarred. Not for us alone, but for visitors [aussi] ! »
More than 39% of the Ivorian population lives below the poverty line, according to the World Bank (2020). A number that has been declining for a few years, except in rural areas, where it has increased.
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