Woods, Dwayne. "State Action and Class Interests in the Ivory Coast." African Studies Review 31, no. 1 (1988): 93-116. doi:10.2307/524585.

The Ivory Coast's economic development and political stability in the past thirty years have sparked divergent opinions. Some see it as a model for other African nations, highlighting the positive impact of incentives for rural producers and a liberal investment code on sustained economic growth, according to the World Bank. The country experienced a seven percent annual growth rate between 1960 and 1975. Critics, however, argue that the economic crisis reveals the limitations of the liberal economic model adopted by the Ivorian political elite. There's no consensus on whether this approach benefited the majority of Ivorians or made the country overly dependent on Western nations for capital and technology. The role of the Ivorian state is central, with its function varying depending on the analytical perspective. Nevertheless, its pivotal role in the last three decades is indisputable, and the debate centres on whose interests the state serves: the Ivorian peasant, as mall planter bourgeoisie, or the bureaucratic elite itself.

Source: adapted from article's abstract culled from Cambridge.org