Ethno‐regional demands, symbolic and redistributive politics: Sugar complexes in the north of the Ivory Coast

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Abstract
The role of the state in Africa in terms of resource allocation is generally linked to class politics and demands. Policy processes are shaped by powerful class factors, usually urban, which lead to a biased allocation of economic goods. Ethnicity and regional factors are not totally ignored but are often treated as epiphenomenal to the overall dynamics that determine who gets what, when and how. This study adopts a different reasoning. It suggests that the state in the Ivory Coast has attempted to manage ethno‐regional demands and conflicts by linking them directly to the policy process. The large‐scale economic projects undertaken by African governments are a reflection of this effort. In the case of the Ivory Coast, the construction of several costly sugar complexes in the northern region of the country is analysed within the context of state and ethnic politics in contemporary Africa.

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