VZCZCXYZ0001
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHAB #0918 2421554
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 301554Z AUG 07
FM AMEMBASSY ABIDJAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3471
INFO RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA 0708

UNCLAS ABIDJAN 000918 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS TO USAID/DCHA; ACCRA PASS TO USAID/WARP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ASCH IV
SUBJECT: ACTION COMPLETED: PROPOSED SUPPORT TO METHODIST 
UNIVERSITY OF COTE D'IVOIRE 
 
REF: STATE 114286 
 
¶1. (SBU) Post completed the action requested in reftel. 
Poloff visited the Methodist University of Cote d'Ivoire 
(UMCI) on August 21 and met with university rector and 
members of the university's Council for Education and 
Training (CEI).  UMCI is a small institution and is only in 
its second year of operation.  There were a total of 90 
students enrolled at the university in the academic year that 
ended in August 2007.  Administrators estimate that there 
will be at least 300 students enrolled for the second year of 
operation. 
 
¶2. (SBU) UMCI currently offers two courses of study -- 
economic sciences and legal studies.  For the moment, UMCI 
uses classroom space in the primary and secondary school that 
the Methodists operate.  The primary and secondary school 
programs at this location have been operating since 1990 and 
1983 respectively.  UMCI has 31 professors split equally 
between the faculties of economic sciences and law.  The 
board emphasized that the school recruits staff from other 
universities in the area and requires a doctoral degree as 
minimum qualification.  The cost per year for UMCI is 
comparable to other private universities at 650,000 FCFA 
(approx. 1337 USD). (Note: The CEI compared UMCI to the 
larger and more established and prestigious Catholic 
University of Cote D'Ivoire which costs approx 1550 USD per 
year.  End Note) 
 
¶3. (SBU) Currently UMCI is financed using the students' 
tuition fees and it has no other donors.  Since they have not 
begun capital improvements, the administration says that they 
are able to cover their current operating costs but the costs 
of renovations and capital investments far exceed the income 
they can recoup from tuition fees.  The CEI noted that they 
would like to expand their program and roughly estimate that 
they will have at least 300 students enrolled during the 
school's second year of operation.  They would like to 
renovate an existing building (formerly used for the 
Methodist secondary school) to house a library, computer 
center and a teachers' conference room as well as additional 
classroom and office space.  They will then add floors to a 
single story building in order to accommodate the elementary 
and secondary school students.  Poloff toured the facilities 
and saw the buildings in question.  The buildings are old and 
in disrepair but functional.  The university currently uses 
5-6 classrooms for their courses but officials note that 
space was tight for the 90 students that attended during the 
first year of operation. The CEI provided Poloff with a copy 
of the renovation plan and budget from the architectural firm 
they hired.  The plan details a USD 1.6 million project.  The 
CEI says they have no other sources of revenue at this time. 
 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Comment:  The UMCI demonstrates enormous will in 
establishing a new university in a market where public 
universities are essentially free.  The administrators are 
keen to keep the cost of attendance low compared to other 
private universities.  While the school's mission does not 
explicitly promote American values, the school is open to 
students regardless of religious or ethnic background, 
political affiliation or national origin.  The economics 
students are learning about free-market economics and the law 
students are learning about the fundamentals of a free and 
fair judicial system.  That being said, Post has some 
concerns about the institution's ability to sustain itself 
given the university's very short record of operation. 
Moreover, the CEI has said that the university has no other 
potential donors which leaves a large gap between the USD 
200,000 requested in the project proposal and the USD 1.6 
million estimate provided by the architectural contractor. 
End Comment. 
AKUETTEH