Following the implementation of two major projects on Tuesday July 11, namely the rehabilitation of the Adiopodoumé public elementary school and the construction of an urban health center in the millionaire district, the twinning arrangement between the Swiss city of Basel and the commune of Yopougon reached a new milestone on Friday November 10, 2023. The Ivorian-Swiss cooperation was extended and consolidated by a cultural initiative involving a joint musical-theatrical performance by Ivorian and Swiss actors from the Basel theater.

It was against this backdrop that a joint delegation from Basel, Switzerland, visited Côte d'Ivoire and expressed their wish to visit the Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques in Adiopodoumé, a key player in the implementation of this twinning arrangement and a model of cooperation between Switzerland and Côte d'Ivoire since 1951.

Professor Inza Koné, Director of the CSRS, warmly welcomed Dr. Heiner Vischer from the Rudolph Geigy Foundation and Sarah Schoch and Benedikt Von Peter (Director) from the Basel Theater to the site where, after an institutional presentation of the CSRS, the guests were able to explore the state-of-the-art GLP-accredited laboratories for electron microscopy, microbiology and the insectarium. The relevance of the Basel guests' questions demonstrated their interest in the CSRS's lines of research and schemes for mobilizing financial resources. As a descendant of one of the founders of the CSRS, Dr. Vischer, a member of the Board of Directors of the R. Geigy Foundation, was pleased to note that the work in which his ancestor, Prof. Rudolf Geigy, was involved is still going strong. As early as 1950, Prof. Geigy, then Director of the Swiss Tropical Institute in Basel, travelled to Côte d'Ivoire to choose the proposed site and install the first Director of the CSRS. He is one of the pillars on which this institution was built.

This visit took place just before our guests prepared for the "Ring de Yopougon" musical show at the Niangon allocodrome, which was held on Friday November 10, 2023 in the presence of the 1st Deputy Mayor Doumbia Yaya and the representative of the Swiss Ambassador to Côte d'Ivoire Léo Trembley. It is essential to note the fundamental role played by the Swiss Embassy in Côte d'Ivoire, which not only encouraged the signing of this twinning agreement between the city of Basel and Yopougon, but has also succeeded in giving it a remarkable dynamism.

Participants to the visit

Prof. Inza Koné - DG

Mrs Sall Kady - DAF

Miss Ange Koné - Communication Manager

M. Akoupo Sylvain - Laboratory

Miss Laurence Yao - Project Manager - GLP

M. Assamoi Jean baptiste - Laboratory

Mr Aimé Sanhoun - Electron microscopy

AKA/CELCOM