In Bingerville, the Keh Kessé neighborhood is the scene of an increasingly tense standoff. The Saint Joseph market, a vital economic hub for nearly 800 female traders , is threatened with demolition to make way for a future SOTRA bus terminus. While the public utility of the Abidjan Urban Mobility Project (PMUA) is acknowledged, the lack of social measures is fueling anger.

A large-scale project, an alarming human toll

Officially launched in July 2024, this transport project is now facing a complex social reality. At a press conference held on December 16, 2025, the site's promoter, Blanche Koffi Lou Nazié , sounded the alarm:

1. Lack of relocation: No alternative has been offered to the 800 women who have depended on this market since 2023.
2. Selective compensation: The PMUA is considering compensating only landowners, ignoring operators and traders.
3. Social impact: For the promoter, the demolition without support risks plunging hundreds of families into precariousness.

A land and legal imbroglio

The case is taking a delicate legal turn. The market manager is relying on a favorable court decision and contesting the legitimacy of state intervention on this specific site.

"The landowners, the Ouédraogo family, claim they have never ceded their plot to the State nor mandated anyone to negotiate," the promoter specifies.

The owning family has also sent letters of protest to international donors, including the World Bank and the French Development Agency (AFD) .

Timeline of a crisis foretold

The conflict stems from a divergence of documents and rights:

1. January 2023: Agreement between the promoter and the Ouédraogo family to create the market.
2. March 2023: Official authorization issued by the Bingerville town hall.
3. Current conflict: The PMUA claims state ownership of the land, without having presented any formal justification according to the operators.

Between pressures on the ground and administrative uncertainties, the economic activity of the Saint Joseph market is currently paralyzed. The market's promoter is now calling for intervention from higher authorities to find a lasting solution that reconciles the modernization of transportation with the protection of women's empowerment.