Authorities in Ivory Coast have lifted a ban on unloading ships at the country's main port, one of the most important in West Africa.

State television broadcast a statement from the president of the National Aid Committee for Economic Operators announcing the lifting of the ban imposed on 12 October.

The big worry is not just for Ivory Coast, but for the region

Razia Khan Standard Chartered

Abidjan Port Authority was closed at the request of Ivory Coast's paramilitary gendarmes searching for weapons destined for rebel forces.

An uprising by the army on 19 September has resulted in heavy fighting, and most of north and central Ivory Coast are now in rebel hands.

While imports were halted, exports were still supposed to leave the port freely but limited storage space meant the operations ground to a halt.

At San Pedro, Ivory Coast's second largest port, shipments were still ongoing but banks in the town have closed indefinitely on rumours of a rebel advance on the city.

Trading hub

Ivory Coast was once one of the most stable West African countries and its capital Abidjan became the regions financial capital.

Since a coup in December 1999 that ousted president Henri Konan Bedie, traffic through Abidjan's port has been falling.

Ivory Coast's landlocked neighbours - Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger - all depend on the port for trade.

Ivory Coast is also the world's leading producer of cocoa - the port is the main export point - and fear of a supply squeeze has already pushed world cocoa prices towards 17-year highs.

Regional crisis

Burkina Faso has been specially hard hit by the closure.

It economic hub, Bobo Dioulasso, has had its main transport routes cut off by the uprising and goods must now undergo long road trips to ports in Ghana.

Burkina Faso has shut its boarders with Ivory Coast and factories in the country have ground to a halt, basic food stuffs are in short supply and the viability of the upcoming cotton harvest is in jeopardy because of higher shipping costs.

Further disruption to the port could send shockwaves through the region where countries depend on the Ivorian ports to export their commodities, their main source of foreign currency.

"The big worry is not just for Ivory Coast, but for the region," said Razia Khan, a London-based Africa economist with Standard Chartered.

"If those countries have access to port curtailed, that will disrupt usual trade flows," she said.