BREAKING: Central Bank Governor Appointed As Vice President

BREAKING: Central Bank Governor Appointed As Vice President

Côte d’Ivoire President, Alassane Ouattara, has appointed the governor of the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO), Tiémoko Meyliet Koné,  as his Vice President.

The 80-year-old leader made the announcement on Tuesday during an address to parliament, days after Prime Minister Patrick Achi and his government resigned.

Koné, 73, who has headed the BCEAO since 2011, is an economist and a well-known technocrat.

Ouattara described Kone as an “outstanding technocrat” and “brilliant economist”, a move many have seen as a possible clue to his succession plans.

Tiémoko Meyliet Koné

“He’s a brilliant economist, a hard-working and competent man, who was involved in the reform of the CFA franc, which was a delicate operation”, he said, noting that Kone had also held high-ranking government jobs in Ivory Coast in the past.

The position of vice president has been vacant since Daniel Kablan Duncan resigned on July 8, 2020, the day Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly died.

Until his appointment on Tuesday, Kone was president of the Central bank of West African states also known as the BCEAO.

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He also served between 2007 and 2011, as Director of the Prime Minister’s Cabinet, then as Minister of Construction, Urban Planning and Housing, and Special Adviser to the President of the Republic, in charge of economic and monetary issues.

The government stepped down in a long-expected move last Wednesday ahead of ministerial changes expected to place the emphasis on belt-tightening

The Ivorian statesman, Patrick Achi, has been Prime Minister since March 2021.

He was Minister of Economic Infrastructure between 2000 and 2017 and President of the Regional Council of Mé since 2013.

Ouattara came to power in 2011, following an election the previous year that sparked a conflict when the defeated incumbent, Laurent Gbagbo, refused to concede.

Opposition groups said Ouattara violated the constitution, which limits presidents to two terms, when he ran again in 2020. Ouattara maintained that the approval of a new constitution in 2016, allowed him to restart his mandate.

The next presidential election will be in 2025, but the appointment of Kone as vice president, analysts say, marked the start of a race to succeed President Ouattara, who will step down after serving three terms in 2025.

Ivory Coast is the world’s top cocoa producer and one of West Africa’s largest economies. Despite years of relative peace since a brief civil war in 2011, ethnic and regional rivalries linger.

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