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From
1945 till December 7, 1993,
Ivory Coast was under the leadership of a wise and politically experienced statesman, President
Felix Houphouet Boigny who had been: -
Cote d' Ivoire's
elected member to the French National Parliament from October 1945 to January
1956.
Minister
in several French Council of ministers from February 1956 to May 20, 1959.
Prime
Minister of the self-government of Côte d'Ivoire from May 21, 1959 to August
6, 1960.
- Cote
d'Ivoire's Head of State from August 7, 1960 to December 7, 1993.
President Felix Houphouet
Boigny adopted free enterprise as political and economic development
strategy to rule his country, and attract foreign investment.
That was a
remarkable contrarian move, in total opposition to the politically correct tendency
existing in the 1960s amongst the majority of African leaders, who opted for
state run economy.
He
managed - for four decades running - to mobilize, and develop strong
political and economic relations with the former colonial power - France. Therefore,
France provided sustainable assistance to drive the country upward on the economic
development path.
Houphouet
elaborated and relentlessly implemented an open door policy
to attract brains
and hands
from Benin
(Dahomey), Niger, Burkina-Faso
(Haute Volta), Mali, Senegal,
Guinea Conakry, Mauritania
and Togo, the former
member-states of West African French speaking countries.
These migrants
contributed very significantly to the 25 years (1960-1985) to the
so-called "Ivory Coast Economic Miracle."
That is a strong economic development growth based on the cultivation of cash
crops: cocoa, coffee, banana, palm oil, and pineapple.
The
heavy decline of cash crops prices on the international market in mid 1980s,
coupled with the mismanagement of funds gained during the prosperity period of
the 1970's, drove down the economy, and the government was obliged
to require the assistance of international financial institutions, the IMF and
the World Bank.
To
assist him manage the economic recovery, President Houphouet
appointed as Prime minister, on January 1990, a
new man to the Ivorian political scenery, Alassane Dramane
Ouattara
- head of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA)
Alassane Dramane Ouattara was born on January 1, 1942, at Dimbokro,
in the central part of Ivory Coast. His ancestral family home is located at Kong
- in the Northern region of Ivory Coast - from a father born in Upper-Volta (Burkina
Faso) - but residing in Ivory Coast - and a mother native from the Northern region
of Ivory Coast.
Alassane
Dramane Ouattara had been the unique Prime Minister ever appointed by President
Houphouet.
He held the position till the death of his mentor, and resigned on December 9,
1993 - two days after the designated constitutional heir, Henri Konan Bedie,
grabbed the state power.
Country
briefs
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for Bedie's era
More
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