Ivory Coast is a west African country with a population of 33m. It gained independence in 1960. A diverse country with a history of welcoming people from all over west Africa, it has been plagued by electoral crises that have twice tipped into civil war.
Henri Konan Bédié, president in the 1990s, used an exclusionary conception of citizenship—the question of who is "really Ivorian"—to prevent Alassane Ouattara, who has Burkinabe ancestry, from running in presidential elections in 1995 and 2000. That question of citizenship stoked both civil wars.
Disputes over the presidential election in 2000 were instrumental in sparking a five-year civil war. In 2010 some 3,000 people died in another civil war after Laurent Gbagbo, then the president, refused to accept defeat. That election eventually brought Ouattara to power.
Alassane Ouattara announced on July 29th 2025 that he would run for a fourth term, despite a constitutional limit of two (he claims to have "reset" this through a constitutional review). Tens of thousands protested in the largest demonstrations since 2020. As many as 55 candidates were barred from the October 25th vote, including Tidjane Thiam and former president Laurent Gbagbo. On October 17th the government banned political rallies for two months and deployed 44,000 police and soldiers; around 700 people were arrested.
In 2020 Ouattara's victory had also been marred by opposition boycotts and violent protests after 90% of his potential challengers were disqualified; at least a dozen people were killed.
Ivory Coast is one of the region's most impressive economies. Another electoral crisis could threaten years of progress.
Ivory Coast is the world's largest grower of cashew nuts. Fifteen years ago it exported nearly all of its crop as raw nuts; by 2024 about 30% of its harvest was processed at home. The government aims to increase that to 50% by 2030.
After the civil war ended in 2011, the government made processing a priority. Firms pay no import duties on machinery and receive a subsidy of about $700 per tonne of processed kernels exported, or 10% of the buyer's price. A regulator was given clout and staffed by competent technocrats. There was consistent high-level support, including from Alassane Ouattara and his late prime minister, Amadou Gon Coulibaly.
The government convinced Olam, a Singaporean firm, to build the first big factories. Several foreign firms have followed. Foreign-owned firms account for about 70% of exports and do not need the government's subsidy to turn a profit; for Ivorian outfits it can be the difference between survival and bankruptcy. In a worrying sign of protectionism, in 2024 the government briefly suspended the export of raw nuts to ensure supply to locally owned factories.
Land prices in Abidjan, the commercial centre, have been rising by around 10% a year for more than a decade. The city gains 200,000 new residents a year.
Tour F, a 421-metre skyscraper under construction in Abidjan, will tower 300 metres over the city's next-tallest building, making it the tallest in Africa upon completion (surpassing Egypt's Iconic Tower). Bruno Nabagné Koné, Ivory Coast's construction minister, says it will be an efficient home for a large bureaucracy, but at more than $400m the economic case is doubtful. Africa has just 26 buildings taller than 150 metres, compared with nearly 300 in Dubai alone, though 12 have sprung up in the past five years.
The aim of a joke is not to degrade the human being but to remind him that he is already degraded.