Alassane Ouattara - The African Mirror

Jun

20

2024

Ivory Coast expects threefold oil output increase by 2027

BUSINESS

IVORY Coast expects a more than threefold increase to its oil output by 2027, boosted by recent oil and gas discoveries at the West African nation's Baleine and Calao offshore fields, President Alassane Ouattara said on Tuesday. The world's top cocoa-producing nation is hoping to become a major regional oil and gas producer and regional energy hub. Ouattara told a joint session of parliament that more than $15 billion is expected to be invested in the country's oil sector, adding that output would grow to about 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 60,000 bpd by 2027. "It will be a…

Jan

09

2023

By The African Mirror

Pardoned Ivorian soldiers arrive home after six months in Malian captivity

NEWS

LOUCOUMANE COULIBALY FORTY-SIX Ivorian soldiers recently pardoned by Mali's junta flew home to Ivory Coast's Abidjan airport after around six months in captivity, state television showed. Their return signals the apparent resolution of a diplomatic standoff between the West African neighbours that also worsened Mali's already tense relations with regional powers. Emerging from the plane, each soldier held a small Ivorian flag and smiled as he shook hands with Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara who was waiting to greet them at the airport. "Now that this crisis is behind us, we can resume normal relations with the brother country of Mali,"…

Jul

15

2022

By The African Mirror

Ivory Coast President Ouattara to meet predecessors in reconciliation drive

NEWS

LOUCOUMANE COULIBALY IVORY Coast President Alassane Ouattara will hold a rare meeting with his predecessors and longtime rivals Laurent Gbagbo and Henri Konan Bedie in an effort to reconcile the West African nation ahead of elections in 2025. The three men have dominated Ivory Coast's fractious political scene since the 1990s. Bedie was president from 1993 until his ouster in a 1999 coup. Gbagbo governed from 2000 until his election defeat to Ouattara in 2010. Tensions came to a head most dramatically after the 2010 election. Gbagbo refused to concede defeat, leading to a brief civil war that killed about…

Apr

14

2022

By The African Mirror

Ivory Coast President to name slimmed-down govt

NEWS

IVORY COAST Prime Minister Patrick Achi tabled his resignation and that of his government as President Alassane Ouattara plans to slim down the size of the cabinet, Ouattara said. Ouattara said he would reduce the government to around 30 ministers from the current 41, with new appointments to be made next week to govern the world's top cocoa producer. The president is expected to address a joint session of the West African country's parliament on April 19, a government spokesman told Reuters. Alassane Ouattara. PIcture: Flickr "It is imperative to reduce state spending and re-focus on social and security resilience,"…

Jul

31

2020

By The African Mirror

Ivory Coast defence minister Bakayoko named prime minister

NEWS

IVORY Coast President Alassane Ouattara has appointed Defence Minister Hamed Bakayoko as prime minister after his predecessor died suddenly this month, the presidency has announced. The death of former Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly, who had been handpicked by Ouattara to succeed him, left his ruling party scrambling to find a replacement three months ahead of the presidential election. The Oct. 31 vote is seen as crucial for the stability of Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa producer, which has spent Ouattara's decade in office rebuilding from a brief civil war that followed his first election win in 2010. Bakayoko,…

Jul

30

2020

By The African Mirror

Ivory Coast election body promises fair October vote

NEWS

IVORY COAST's electoral commission has promised a fair election as the ruling RHDP party prepared to ask President Alassane Ouattara to stand again, defying opponents who say he does not have the right to a third term under the constitution. The election is seen as the greatest test yet of the tenuous stability achieved since a brief civil war killed about 3,000 in 2010 and 2011. The election commission's role is particularly sensitive. A dispute over Ouattara's 2010 poll victory sparked the post-election conflict and opposition parties have raised concern this time about the independence of local election offices, which…

Jul

22

2020

By The African Mirror

Former Ivory Coast minister to run for president in break with ruling party

NEWS

MARCEL Amon-Tanoh, a longtime ally of President Alassane Ouattara and until recently his foreign minister, declared on Wednesday he would run in Ivory Coast's presidential election in October, breaking with the ruling party. The campaign was thrown into uncertainty earlier this month when Ouattara's choice to succeed him after a decade in power, Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly, died suddenly, leaving the ruling RHDP party scrambling to choose a replacement candidate. The October 31 election is seen as a key test of stability for Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa producer. Ouattara's first election win in 2010 sparked a civil…

Jul

20

2020

By The African Mirror

Ivory Coast ruling party says it has asked president to run again

NEWS

IVORY Coast's ruling party said on Monday it had asked President Alassane Ouattara to stand for a third term after the death of his chosen successor. Ouattara, 78, had said he would step down and named his close ally, Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly, as the RHDP party's candidate for the October 31 ballot. But Gon Coulibaly died on July 8, leaving the party without a candidate in the run-up to an election that is expected to test political stability in the world's top cocoa-producing nation. The vote is expected to be the most hotly contested since 2010, when Ouattara's…

Mar

12

2021

By The African Mirror

Shock and uncertainty in Ivory Coast

NEWS

MEDIA COULIBALY and ANGE ABOA IVORY Coast faced shock and uncertainty following the death of Prime Minister Hamed Bakayoko, the West African nation's second premier to die in office in less than eight months. A close ally of President Alassane Ouattara, Bakayoko, who died of cancer a few days after his 56th birthday, was appointed prime minister in July 2020 after the death of his predecessor Amadou Gon Coulibaly, Ouattara's handpicked successor. Although Ouattara named his chief of staff Patrick Achi as interim prime minister on Monday while Bakayoko was in hospital, Bakayoko's passing leaves a vacuum for Ouattara to…

Mar

07

2021

By The African Mirror

Ivory Coast votes for parliament as Ouattara opponents join forces

NEWS

ANGE ABOA and LOUCOUMANE COULIBALY IVORY COAST voted on Saturday in a legislative election, with President Alassane Ouattara’s allies facing a combined challenge from opposition parties led by two of his predecessors. The poll comes only months after Ouattara won a third term in an election marred by unrest that killed at least 85 people, the country’s worst violence since a 2010-2011 civil war. After boycotting the presidential election in October to protest Ouattara’s decision to seek a third term, the parties of former presidents Henri Konan Bedie and Laurent Gbagbo are fielding parliamentary candidates on joint lists. Clear control…