Côte d'Ivoire

Côte d'Ivoire is a diverse country with more than 60 ethnic groups. The French colonial administration and founding President Félix Houphouët-Boigny had encouraged people from neighbouring Sahel countries to immigrate and work in the Ivorian commercial agriculture sector and urban informal economy – especially in the north. Inter-ethnic tensions emerged during the late colonial period and began to have political consequences soon after independence (1960). The country’s political landscape over the last 30 years has been shaped by the alliances and rivalries between current President Alassane Ouattara and former heads of state Henri Konan Bédié and Laurent Gbagbo, and their supporters. Each leader has run political campaigns that have used ethnicity as a political wedge. This ethnic cleavage-based political competition contributed to the post-electoral crises in 2010-2011 and 2020.

Soon after succeeding the deceased President Houphouët-Boigny in 1993, President Henri Konan Bédié formulated a narrow concept of citizenship and identity called Ivoirite, which discriminated against northerners and Muslims. Bédié was forced from power through a military coup in 1999. The sense of ethnic exclusion that accompanied Laurent Gbagbo’s election in 2000 contributed to a military rebellion in 2002 that morphed into a civil war that continued until 2007. After having been prevented from running for office earlier (due to discriminatory laws), Ouattara ran and won in 2010. Gbabgo’s refusal to accept election results led to a post-electoral crisis and Gbagbo’s arrest and subsequent detention at The Hague. Relative stability prevailed during Ouattara’s first two terms of office, but his unwillingness to pursue political reform, genuine reconciliation, and his decision to undertake a third term (enabled by a new constitution ratified in 2016), significantly contributed to the outbreak of violence during the 2020 electoral process, which he also won.

Cote d’Ivoire has persistently performed at the mid-range in Gender Equality over the last decades. While recent government initiatives to mainstream gender in climate change actions are encouraging, gender discriminatory practices, including political exclusion, limited access to land and marginalization from high-paying jobs remain among barriers to women’s rights. The LGBTQIA+ community also faces discrimination, where homosexual acts committed in public are criminalized by the penal code.

Going forward, it will be important to watch Credible Elections and Absence of Corruption. Commitment from all parties to credible and decisive elections will be key to a return to democracy. To that end, the restructuring of the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI), began in 2022. Addressing corruption is important for both democratic and economic growth, and the government has launched an anti-corruption campaign. It is unclear, however, if this will be sufficient to prevent further discontent. The security situation should also be watched, as the perpetration of attacks by terrorist and violent extremist groups predominantly in northern Côte d’Ivoire since 2020 could potentially contribute to further social cleavage.