France to offer two billion euros extra aid to Cote d'Ivoire: radio

France to offer two billion euros extra aid to Cote d'Ivoire: radio

France says it will offer Ivory Coast two billion euros in aid from mid-2012 on top of the 300 million euros already disbursed since the end of the post-election crisis.

According to a report by French radio RFI on its website on Friday, Prime Minister Francois Fillon announced the pledge during a trip to the West African state, which is trying to recover from a four-month post-election conflict that claimed thousands of lives and paralysed the economy of the world's top cocoa grower.

Earlier this week, Ivory Coast said it would not be able to service external debt this year and would only resume payments on its defaulted Eurobond from 2012.

REUTERS/Williams