“I certainly haven't succeeded in everything, but the results are there (…). I gave my best,"
affirmed Alassane Ouattara Thursday, within the solemn framework of the meeting of the Senate and the National Assembly in
congress in Yamoussoukro. During his speech, a true assessment of his ten years in power, "Ado", 78, said
claimed to have inherited a country "in tatters", and prided himself on having "brought back peace and security" and "handed
the country at work.
President Laurent Gbagbo having refused to recognize his defeat at the ballot box, Alassane Ouattara was
came to power by force, thanks to the support of the French army, a former colonial power, and of the
northern rebellion. He had inherited a country split in two since 2002, with intercommunity tensions on the surface
of skin, to an economy undermined by violence and international sanctions.
This former senior official of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Central Bank of African States of
l'Ouest (BCEAO) has been able to use its relations with Westerners and
donors to attract new capital and investors.
Alassane Ouattara has thus transformed Côte d'Ivoire, leading in particular an ambitious policy of large
works. "80% of the population has access to drinking water compared to 55% in 2011", underlined Thursday the Head of State,
listing its achievements: "40,000 km of road, 22 bridges, 7 universities, 33,000 classes, 27 colleges and high schools, 10
new hospitals...”.
But his detractors criticize a "soulless international technocrat", without social will and having
instrumentalized justice against its opponents. If economic growth is there, with a
average of 8% since 2012, illegal emigration to Europe has increased in recent years
never seen.
Alassane Ouattara is also far from having curbed corruption, yet one of his campaign promises.
Above all, the question of reconciliation remains open, while the International Criminal Court (ICC) has acquitted
Laurent Gbagbo, paving the way for a possible return to Côte d'Ivoire if the prosecution's appeal is rejected. " Between the
political arrests of the past few months and the possibility of him representing himself, Westerners have blamed him for
drift towards dictatorship... . He was surprised, upset even. Convinced that all his decisions are good,
underlined at the end of January a source close to power.
Born on January 1, 1942 in Dimbokro (center), Alassane Ouattara completed most of his schooling in Burkina
neighboring Faso. From the north of the predominantly Muslim country, he has long been the symbol of the identity crisis
who tore the Ivory Coast apart.
Married to a French woman, he joined the IMF in 1968 and in 1983 became vice-governor of the BCEAO, of which he was to
later governor. In 1990, he was appointed Prime Minister by President Félix Houphouët-Boigny, function
which he exercised until the death of the "Old Man" in 1993.

Fearing his ambitions, the camp of the new president Henri Konan Bédié tries to prove the ineligibility of
Ouattara, accused of being of Burkinabe origin. Thus begins a poisoned debate on "ivoirité", a concept
nationalist who participated in the rise of community tensions.
During the 2000 presidential election, Ouattara's candidacy was thus rejected for "doubtful nationality".
After a failed putsch in 2002, the partition of Côte d'Ivoire imposed itself with a south held by the camp of
President Laurent Gbagbo and a pro-Ouattara rebel north. Under international pressure, Laurent Gbagbo
validates Ouattara's presidential candidacy in 2005, ballot postponed until November 2010 and followed by a
crisis that will kill more than 3,000 people.
A final offensive allowed "Ado" to come to power on April 11, 2011. His triumphant re-election in 2015 -
more than 83% of the votes in the first round - puts an end to the incessant debate on its legitimacy. By announcing that he
would not run for a controversial third term in 2020, he wants to leave the image of the man who allowed the country
to turn the page on the crisis. His wish will only be granted if the October presidential election takes place without
clash, while tensions remain in the country.