Minister of Defense Michel Amani of Cote d'Ivoire

We need money quickly to complete this project, hiring teachers and resuming classes for some 300,000 students who have been out of school since civil war erupted in the world's top cocoa producer in September 2002, Michel Amani was quoted as saying by the state-run Fraternite Matin daily.

Without it, our hands will be tied and the project will be dead in the water, Amani said after meeting Tuesday with international lenders including the World Bank.