Dr. Alassane Ouattara was elected as the 5th President of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire for the first time in 2010An economist by training, President Ouattara holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Drexel Institute of Technology, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as well as a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
In 1968, he joined the International Monetary Fund (IMF) where he held positions of increasing responsibilities, and later joined the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO), where, at the Age of 40, he became Deputy Governor and later Governor of the Bank.
In April, 1990, while Côte d’Ivoire was hit by an unprecedented crisis, Mr. Alassane Ouattara was appointed by late President Félix Houphouët-Boigny as Chairman of the Inter-ministerial Committee for Coordination of the Stabilization Program and Economic recovery. A few months later, he was appointed as Prime Minister and Head of Government, until December 1993. He then returned to the IMF where he served as Deputy Managing Director; the highest position held by an African in this institution, to date.
After his rich international career, Mr. Ouattara decided to return to his home country in 1999, where he took the lead of the Rassemblement des Republicains (RDR) - one of Côte d’Ivoire’s major political parties - before running for the presidential election that he won with 54.10% of votes.
President Ouattara is considered as the father of the new emerging Côte d’Ivoire. He introduced many economic reforms that have transformed Côte d’Ivoire and improved the livelihood of millions of Ivoirians.
Today, he succeeded in hoisting Côte d’Ivoire to the 3rd rank of Africa’s Fastest Growing Economies. Based on the tremendous economic growth that the country has been experiencing, President Ouattara was brilliantly reelected for a second term in October 2015, on the first round of elections, with 83.66% of votes.
