Ivory Coast’s Ouattara looks to ride economic boom to fourth term

Alassane Ouattara’s long path to becoming Ivory Coast president included two elections in which he was disqualified from running and a brief but brutal 2010-11 civil war spurred by his predecessor’s refusal to leave office.

Things have been easier since he took the top job in 2011, with landslide re-election wins in 2015 and 2020.

The 83-year-old former international banker hopes to replicate the feat for a third and potentially final time when West Africa’s biggest cocoa producer goes to the polls on October 25.

Ouattara’s supporters say his success at the ballot box reflects voter satisfaction with strong economic growth since he took office and a flurry of infrastructure projects, from new roads and interchanges to a more than 300-metre tower that dwarfs everything else in the city centre skyline.

His critics say it has just as much to do with restrictions on democratic activities, including what Amnesty International