History History

The climatic conditions do not allow an optimal conservation of the oldest bones in Côte d'Ivoire. Although imprecise, research nevertheless shows the presence of fragments of weapons and tools attesting to a human presence in the savannah and forest regions in the Upper Paleolithic.

The Ehotilés (near Assinia) are among the oldest peoples of Côte d'Ivoire, but the most distant ancestors according to oral tradition would be the "little men rouges " of the forests, ancestor of the Dan, in the west of the country. The Senoufos, peaceful and agricultural, also seem to have been present for a long time in almost all of the North, up to the limits of the towns of Odienné, Bouaké and Bouna.

The settlement of the north is largely conditioned by the "Mandingo push". These Mandinka, the Dioulas, a name that in Malinke means "traders", served as intermediaries between the African populations and the Arab-Berber traders from the Maghreb who Islamized them. Their representatives, who settled in small groups in the regions of Odienné, Bondoukou and Kong, introduced Islam, willingly or in a more warlike manner, through the jihad led by armies of horsemen.

During this time Alfonso V, King of Portugal, commanded maritime expeditions on the route to the Indies. The navigator Antão Gonçalves was the first to venture into the Gulf of Guinea, rounding Cape Bojador as early as 1445. The toponymy of the cities and rivers of the coast (San Pedro, Sassandra, Fresco...) attests to their presence on the Ivorian coast around 1470. The navigator Soeiro da Costa gave his name to the "rio Soeiro" (Assinian river) while another named the "rio Mayo" (the Comoé). The Treaty of Alcáçovas in 1479 reserved for Portugal the exclusive trade with Guinea, which included the Ivory Coast. The country is called "Côte des males gens", "Côte des graines et de la malaguette", to finally take its name of "Côte d'Ivoire". In 1515, they establish a first fort in Axim (Ghana).

We can only truly speak of a Kingdom with centralized power in the 15th century, when the Taraweré clan, which inherited the traditions of the Senoufos and Dioulas, decided to take over the region. With their experience of caravan trade and the literacy of their people through Islam and the reading of the Koran, they made Kong a strategic merchant city, a platform between the exported African products (slaves, gold and cola) and the products of the northern Sahel (salt and fabrics). Having become a large Muslim state led by Bokar Traoré in the 16th century, the Kong Empire stretched from the north-east of Côte d'Ivoire to Burkina Faso and southern Mali and continued to develop. The cities of Bondoukou and Kong, important trading centres, became true city-states governed by a military and commercial organisation, organised into castes and trades. The Mosque of Kong began to attract Muslim scholars from all over the Sahel.

At the same time in the south-east, the Abrons, a branch of the Ashantis (Akan family) from neighbouring Ghana, settled in Koumassi near Abidjan, then reached Bondoukou in the north-east, where they subdued the Koulangos. Further south, other offshoots of the large Akan family, the Agni, settled between Aboisso and Abengourou. Successive waves of migrations from Aboisso to Grand-Bassam overlap and chase each other, before stabilizing on the east coast as far as the mouth of the Bandama, where the Krous from Liberia also converge, spread along the west coast. There again, the tribes from the Ashanti kingdom quickly established their hegemony over the peoples already settled there.

Meanwhile, in 1637, five Capuchin monks landed in Assinia, but it was a failure: the coasts were rather unhealthy and inhospitable. Gradually, Dutch, French and English sailors disembarked and bartered with the local population. It was at this time that Dutch wax appeared, an amalgam of Indonesian fabrics readapted to local demand, and the traffic in spices, gold and ivory, but above all the slave trade. About 50,000 slaves will leave Cap-Lahou, the leading slave port in Côte d'Ivoire.

A new mission, mandated by Louis XIV to counter the Dutch in the establishment of trading posts, landed in Assinie. Entrusted to the Chevalier d'Amon, two young blacks, Aniaba and Banga, were brought back to Paris. Aniaba will be integrated into the court of the Sun King, his godfather in Versailles, will learn fencing and horseback riding, will convert to Christianity by having a revelation at Notre-Dame, will become a musketeer. He returned to France in 1701, after ten years in France, after the death of King Zéna d'Assinie, closing the parenthesis of their improbable adventure at the court of Louis XIV. In the meantime, the Chevalier d'Amon had a fort built in Assinie, but the French presence ended abruptly in 1703, only to be re-established 140 years later.

In the north, the prosperity of the Kong Empire is coveted. A Dioula warrior, Sékou Oumar Ouattara, decided to seize the region in 1710, citing its legitimacy by its kinship with the former dynasty of the Traoré, deposed by Lasiri Gbombelé. To repair the right of his father Tiéba who had claimed the throne without obtaining it, he seized Kong by a method of cavalry similar to those used by the Empire of Mali three hundred years earlier and beheaded Gbombelé. Ouattara then became king (called fama) and imposed Islam on the peoples under his yoke, as well as Dioula as the language of the state. He developed cotton crops to make cloth, rice, sorghum and millet, to build up cereal reserves for his people, found free slave labour, and secured the trade routes, again with the help of the cavalry. In 1730, the Kong Empire was the largest state in West Africa south of the Niger River. Sekou Ouattara died in 1745 and was replaced by successive famas who sent traders, merchandise, advisers and soothsayers essential to the functioning of the royal court of other states in Côte d'Ivoire, notably the kingdom of Gyaaman or Abron. Kong also provides troops to drive back the Ashantis to the east from Ghana.

Meanwhile in the north-east, the Baoule, under the leadership of their queen Abla Pokou, guided the people of Ghana to Côte d'Ivoire to flee a war of succession from the Ashanti kingdom, crossed the Comoé to settle in the savannahs of the centre, pushing the Senoufos back as far as Katiola. Queen Pokou, if she really existed, has nourished many legends in oral tradition, including that of having sacrificed her son to save her people (see Belief). Little inclined to war and struggles for hegemony, the Sénoufos, surrounded by the Malinkés on one side, and the Abrons and Baoulés on the other, gradually withdrew to the surroundings of Korhogo.

Lieutenant Fleuriot de Langle signed several treaties with the local customary chiefs in order to oust the English, build Fort Joinville at Assinie and establish a lasting presence for the French. On the coast, the first farms were developed. The "factories", important trading houses, based in Europe. Verdier thus opened the first factoring factory in 1863, the country's first coffee plantation in Elima, on the Aby lagoon, the economic cradle of the Ivory Coast. Some of them, such as the CFAO and the Peyrissac company, are still in operation today. Based on the collection of local products and the sale of imported products, the new economy conditions the destiny of Côte d'Ivoire.

The chief town of the colony was transferred from Assinia to Grand-Bassam, where soldiers and administrators began to settle, as well as on the west coast, as in Dabou. Three years later, Côte d'Ivoire officially became a French colony. But in blood, since to conquer these lands it makes war with Ebrié (wars of Jacqueville and Lahou, of Bonoua) until 1895. At the instigation of Amédée Brétignère, the time has now come for deep penetration, originally motivated by the search for gold mines in the region of the Aby lagoon. The emissaries Binger and Treich-Laplène, Verdier's agents, entered into a veritable race for treaties of protectorate, friendship and trade, signed with the customary chiefs of the kingdoms of the interior.

A formidable opponent who hindered the French expansionist aims fell: the Almamy ("leader of the believers") Samory Touré, the "Napoleon of the savannahs" at the head of his itinerant and fluctuating empire. After a long hunt that ruins the northern regions, Samory is finally defeated in Guélémou. From now on, no major obstacle would stand in the way of the colonial stranglehold. This is based on a hierarchical grid system of the territory including villages, cantons and circles. At the same time, forced labour and the code of indigénat, a veritable apartheid described by Bernard Dadié in his book, Climbié, were established. Although the populations still rise up sporadically, the settlers, better equipped and better organized, always end up prevailing. In addition, the episode of the armed struggle against Samory makes the administrators abandon any idea of peaceful penetration of the country: from now on one would use the strong way, inaugurated by Governor Angoulvant in blood.

The development of the young French colony began in 1904, with the laying out of a south-north railway line and the establishment of an inland port. Grand-Bassam, the first chief town, suffers from chronic insalubrity, not very conducive to a definitive settlement, and while waiting for the work on the site chosen to accommodate the train and the port to be sufficiently advanced to allow the settlers to settle there, the governor and his services cross the lagoon to settle near the village of Akoué-Santè, in prefabricated wooden houses in Le Havre. The transitional city named Bingerville, in honour of the colony's first governor, became the transitional capital of the colony. In 1912, Côte d'Ivoire is cut into 16 circles and in 1915, in the middle of the war, pacification is almost complete, with the exception of the Lobis and the Guérés. The local resistances are all definitively defeated in 1920.

In 1934, the capital of the colony was officially transferred from Bingerville to Abidjan. Under the iron hand of the colonial administrators, the colony continues its development by forced labourers on the railroad and port sites and on large commercial farms. In 1937, the Agricultural Union of Côte d'Ivoire was created, to which the indigenous planters could not join.

In July 1944, a maintenance bonus granted to coffee farmers at the expense of Ivorian farmers provoked a revolt in the fields. Some intellectuals, including a certain Félix Houphouët-Boigny, supported them. The indigenous farmers then seceded from the established order by founding the dissident African Agricultural Union, no doubt influenced by General de Gaulle's Brazzaville Conference that same year. This conference evoked the idea of autonomy and marked a decisive turning point in the politicization and conscientization of colonized peoples. Shortly afterwards, Félix Houphouët-Boigny was nominated as the candidate to represent Côte d'Ivoire at the first French Constituent Assembly.

In 1946, Houphouët-Boigny passed a law abolishing forced labour in all overseas territories. On his return home, he was greeted as a hero: the abolition of forced labour was a halo of a prestige that was never to be denied. From now on, he is Houphouët le Bélier(boigny in baoulé, meaning "ram") for everyone. In Treichville, he founded the Democratic Party of Côte d'Ivoire PDCI, while a few months later, the Rassemblement démocratique africain, an organization affiliated to the French Communist Party, was created in Bamako to spearhead anti-colonial protest in French-speaking Africa. Several parties were born, all more or less communist in nature and supported by workers' unions: the Ivorian section of the Workers' International (1946), the Progressive Party of Côte d'Ivoire (1947) and the Eburnean Democratic Bloc (1949).

Houphouët is elected president of the new federal party of which the PDCI becomes an affiliate member. The conservative forces retaliated to this affront by arresting 21 PDCI leaders, considered to be Marxist agitators, and accused of causing disturbances at the exit of a political meeting in a Treichville cinema. Eight of them will be tried at the criminal court of Grand-Bassam before being sentenced at prison ; among them, Bernard Dadié, Mathieu Ekra and Joseph Anoma. It is on this occasion that the famous march of women on Bassam will take place, the epic of which has been recounted by the historian Henriette Diabaté. During this protest movement, women travelled from Abidjan to Grand-Bassam from 22 to 24 December 1949 to demand the release of political leaders imprisoned by the French colonial authorities. The prisoners were released in 1952. That same year, Houphouët was elected to the territorial assembly.

In January, Houphouët-Boigny entered the French Parliament, and in February became Minister Delegate to the Presidency of the Council. He helped the Minister of Overseas France to finalise the Defferre framework law, which led to the transfer of many powers from Paris to local authorities and opened up completely new prospects for Côte d'Ivoire, since until then its inhabitants had been mere French subjects with no right of representation. In May 1957, Houphouët-Boigny was elected President of the Grand Council of the AOF. And in 1958, the referendum of March 28th consecrates the Franco-African Community which opens the way to independence.

On 30 April 1959, Houphouët was invested Prime Minister of the first government of Côte d'Ivoire by the Legislative Assembly. Finally, on 7 August 1960, at the end of a joyous tour celebrating the successive independence of Benin, Niger and Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire celebrated its accession to national sovereignty. Félix Houphouët-Boigny then solemnly promised that " l 'Africa will be the land of reconciliation for peuples ". He would have preferred to obtain the status of a state associated with France rather than independence, but he founded a France-Africa relationship that is still very much alive today. It surrounds itself with French development workers, economic operators and decision-makers. Until 1966, the Ivorian Minister of Finance was a Frenchman, Raphaël Saller. This dependence on the " pré carré " is also reflected in the Banque de France's stranglehold on the sub-regional currency through the establishment of the West African Monetary Union, but also in the many French investments that play a crucial role in the country's development.

Nicknamed "the wise man", "Nanan Boigny" or "Houphouët le Bélier" or "Le Vieux", he is the "father" of the Ivorian nation. Born in Yamoussoukro, traditional chief, doctor, planter, he made his mark very early on by creating a trade union. As a member of parliament in France, he abolished forced labour in overseas France and has since been considered a hero in Côte d'Ivoire. President of the National Assembly in Côte d'Ivoire, mayor of Abidjan, then minister in France, he helped draft the Defferre law transferring powers from France to the colonies. Elected first President of Côte d'Ivoire in 1960 at independence, a supporter of Françafrique, he cultivated the economic link in the development of his country. Côte d'Ivoire will then experience the "Ivorian miracle" from 1970 to 1980. But the sharp drop in cocoa and coffee prices in the 1980s plunged the country into an economic crisis. Not without megalomania, he made his village Yamoussoukro the political capital of the country, with four monumental figures bearing his initials at its four cardinal points: President (Palace) Félix (Peace Foundation) Houphouët (Hôtel Président) Boigny (Basilica). "The Wise Man" won the elections again in 1990, but he died in power three years later at the age of 88, after 33 years in the presidency, leaving his successor Henri Konan Dédié to take the reins of power. A solemn national funeral will be held for him in the basilica of Yamoussoukro.

The years 1960-1970 are called the "Ivorian miracle", with a growth rate close to 7%. Abidjan is adorned with attributes that symbolize the country's success: the Plateau and its daring towers, the unusual Saint-Paul Cathedral, the Hotel Ivoire and its skating rink, etc. Côte d'Ivoire is literally "boosted" by economic success and the benefits of growth are being felt in all areas: the country is building a remarkable infrastructure network, schools and hospitals are being built everywhere and at all costs. While the French still hold the reins of the national economy, Houphouët encourages massive immigration from neighbouring countries, particularly Burkina Faso, for the hard work of the coffee and cocoa plantations in full economic boom. These initiatives set the country on the road to liberalism. The employment sector is flourishing, everyone has access to education, carelessness marks all behaviours. Until then, Houphouët's political skill and his propensity to suppress bloodshed uprisings (Bétés revolt in 1970) while calming down objections with bribes, were more or less offset by the global concord of the 1970s to 1985, fostered by a remarkable economic prosperity.

In 1983, Yaoumoussoukro was transformed from a village (where Houphouët was born) into the political capital of the country. Monumental buildings emerge from the ground, such as the President's palace and its sacred crocodiles, the President's hotel, the Basilica, copied from that of Saint-Pierre, and the Foundation for Peace Research.

Between 1978 and 1986, world cocoa prices fell by 40%, threatening the Ivorian economy. The situation precipitated by this fall led to a significant increase in corruption and highlighted the extent of the country's debts, ushering in a period of social unrest. The revolt rumbles in the streets. During student demonstrations, a certain Laurent Gbagbo asserted himself as a leader, before founding the FPI (Ivorian Popular Front) and going into exile in France. At the same time, the barons of the regime demanded their money and a clandestine opposition was born: the "wise man of Africa" appeared more and more decried and isolated. He will have no other recourse than to put an end to the single-party system, encouraged by Mitterrand who will declare that "French aid will go first to the heads of state who promote democracy in their countries".

Félix Houphouët-Boigny gives way to and authorises political parties of different persuasions and the organisation of pluralist elections in which foreigners (especially Burkinabè) have the right to vote. The advent of a multiparty system did not, however, prevent the "Old Man" from being re-elected with 89% of the votes cast against his socialist opponent, Laurent Gbagbo, in 1990. Nevertheless, his last years of reign were marked by incidents and unrest: army mutinies, demonstrations by students and the opposition... Félix Houphouët-Boigny died three years later in power.

After the death of Félix Houphouët-Boigny in 1993, it was his dolphin Henri Konan Bédié "Le Sphinx de Daoukro" (his native village) or N'zuéba, "child of the rain" in Baoulé, who was elected President in 1995. He has a long CV: Ambassador of Côte d'Ivoire to the United States at the age of 27, Minister of Economy and Finance at 32 and for 12 years, special advisor to the President of the World Bank, then President of the National Assembly of Côte d'Ivoire. However, his term in office was marred by numerous scandals and embezzlement of public funds, including the "18 billion affair" (28 million euros from the European Union for education allegedly misappropriated). There is widespread discontent, due to high inflation and the failure of policies to integrate young people and an army demanding long-promised bonuses. He pushed through laws on the concept of "ivoirité" excluding his opponent, Ouattara, from the presidential race. But it is to want to kill a mosquito resting on a fragile wall with a big hammer: Bédié misses the mosquito, breaks the wall and does not see General Gueï coming who sweeps him out of power on December 24, 1999 with a coup d'état. On December 24, 1999, the "Santa Claus" in fatigues announces on television that Bédié is no longer President, a position he himself holds if the "young men" (the military surrounding him) don't mind. The ten months of Robert Guéï's reign were marked by the exactions of his "young men" who sowed terror and looted several businesses and homes. At the same time, he formed the National Committee for Public Salvation and brought the opposition parties together to form a "transitional" government, but excluding former President Bédié. General Gueï had a new constitution adopted by referendum on 23 July 2000, then swapped his general's uniform for civilian attire and stood as a candidate for election against Gbagbo. Alassane Ouattara, known as "ADO", is again excluded again for this "ivoirité" issue, and the RDR ministers leave the transitional government.

Gbagbo was then the only serious candidate against Guéï, who claimed victory. After many deaths, the army ended up siding with Gbagbo, who remained in power for ten years. But the spiral of political unrest became more pronounced, and the central question of "ivority" was still unresolved. The so-called foreign populations (particularly Burkinabés) in the north and centre of the country, whom Houphouët-Boigny had welcomed with open arms during the country's economic development on the coffee and cocoa plantations, became the targets of the ruling power. To this sociological divide is added a religious divide: the population in the north of the country is overwhelmingly Muslim, while the south is essentially Christian.

It is in this context that an armed rebel faction in the north of the country (the MPCI, Mouvement patriotique de Côte d'Ivoire) is rising up, led by Guillaume Soro, while President Gbagbo is on an official visit to Italy. If this coup attempt is a failure, the country is divided in two: the rebel North under Soro's leadership, and the loyalist South under Gbagbo's orders. France, through the 43rd Marine Infantry Battalion (BIMa), tries to stabilize the situation. On the diplomatic level, its economic and geopolitical interests being important, it will attempt mediation, which is very badly perceived locally, it is a failure.

Signed and orchestrated by France, the Linas-Marcoussis agreements strip President Gbagbo of most of his powers and allow the opposition to enter the government. Anti-French demonstrations broke out in Abidjan, forcing BIMa soldiers to evacuate some people. Its strength was then increased to 3  000 people.

Ivorian air forces attack rebel bases in the north, but hit the French military base in Bouaké. Nine French soldiers are killed. In retaliation, French forces destroy several Ivorian aircraft at the Yamoussoukro base. A vast anti-French operation conducted in Abidjan by a nationalist movement ensued, leading France to reinforce its troops by another 600 men and to evacuate 500 expatriate civilians 4 . The military crisis is slowly giving way to a fundamental political crisis.

All attempts at mediation and settlement of the conflict will remain futile until this agreement is signed between President Laurent Gbagbo, Guillaume Soro, and Burkina Faso's President Blaise Compaoré, the mediator. On 29 March, Soro, at only 35 years of age, was appointed prime minister by Gbagbo, who also signed an amnesty order in favour of the former belligerents. This agreement made it possible to satisfy the demands of the North on the one hand (identification of the population by means of national identity cards and registration of 3 million new voters on the electoral rolls, reintegration of former combatants, etc.) and to meet the demands of the loyalist part of the country on the other (disarmament of the rebels, etc.).

The presidential election, scheduled for 2005 and postponed six times, was finally held. Gbagbo came first in the first round with 38% of the vote, ahead of Ouattara (32%) and Bédié (25.2%). Voting went well overall and no observers reported massive fraud. The IEC announced Ouattara's victory with 54% of the votes in the second round, a result confirmed by the UN, but rejected by the Constitutional Council, led by Paul Yao N'Dré, a close associate of Gbagbo. Côte d'Ivoire finds itself with two presidents: Alassane Ouattara, supported by almost the entire international community, especially West Africa, and Laurent Gbagbo, who has the Constitutional Council behind him. Laurent Gbagbo appointed Gilbert Aké N'Gbo as Prime Minister, while Alassane Ouattara reappointed Guillaume Soro.

The fighting takes place near the Hotel du Golf, where the Forces nouvelles provide security for Ouattara and his government, and the Defence and Security Forces (FDS) loyal to Gbagbo, who have undertaken a blockade of the hotel. Three days later, at the call of Ouattara and Soro, demonstrations were organized in Abidjan and Yamoussoukro for two days, but were dispersed in blood by Gbagbo's forces. Clashes resumed in mid-January 2011 for a month and a half in d'Abobo, Ouattara's stronghold in Abidjan, the "invisible commando", led by Ibrahim Coulibaly, a rebel leader, against forces loyal to Gbagbo.

It erupts in the west of the country, a region that has long been unstable. The Central Bank of West African States, based in Dakar, has recognised Alassane Ouattara as elected president and is thus seeking to suffocate the Gbagbo regime, but it is ordering the seizure of BCEAO agencies throughout the country. At the same time, Ouattara ordered an embargo on cocoa exports, followed by exporters, which dealt another blow to the Gbagbo regime. On 17 March, Alassane Ouattara creates the Forces républicaines de Côte d'Ivoire (FRCI), composed mainly of ex-Forces nouvelles, but also of deserters from pro-Gbagbo forces and volunteers. They undertake a raid on Abidjan. The town of Bloléquin is controlled by the FRCI on 21 March and Duékoué on 28 March. But the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) notes many deaths in the towns taken, including at least 800 in Duékoué. After taking San Pedro, the country's second largest port, and Yamoussoukro, the political capital, the FRCI surround Abidjan on 31 March. Ten days of armed conflict began in the middle of the city, between forces loyal to Ouattara (FRCI) and pro-Gbagbo forces (FDS). Fighting was mainly concentrated in Cocody, which had been spared so far, where political parties, the presidential residence, public television, strategic military camps and the police and gendarmerie academy were based.

On 4 April, UNOCI (United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire) and Licorne (French army) forces attacked pro-Gbagbo positions to neutralize their heavy weapons. On 11 April, as the battle of Abidjan seemed to be getting bogged down, the FRCI - supported by the UN and Licorne - led the assault on the presidential residence and arrested Gbagbo and his wife Simone. But clashes continue to erupt, this time in Yopougon, Gbagbo's stronghold in Abidjan, where loyal militiamen have withdrawn. It was not until the beginning of May that a certain calm returned to the city. On 4 May, Alassane Ouattara was officially proclaimed president by the Constitutional Council.

He is taking over the reins of a country that has been devastated by a conflict that has left nearly 3,000 people dead. He announces the creation of the Commission for Dialogue, Truth and Reconciliation (CDVR), headed by former Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny. At the same time, he set about restoring internal security and put in place an emergency presidential programme of CFAF 45 billion to revive the national economy. With its macro-economic indicators turning green, with growth of more than 10% in 2012 against -4.7% in 2011, the country is regaining its place as a regional locomotive and hub of French-speaking Africa, attracting a growing number of investors and multinationals.

Despite a difficult post-crisis context, the authorities are multiplying public and private investments from 2012, building at all costs. Several reforms have been undertaken to boost the agricultural sector and diversify the economy. Abidjan, which is home to 30% of the population, is now cleaner, with many roads rehabilitated and a new university, while the bridge linking Cocody to Marcory will be inaugurated in 2014. The Abidjan-Yamoussoukro and Abidjan-Grand-Bassam motorways have also been completed. However, unemployment remains very high, especially among young people, and 46% of the population still lives below the poverty line, despite the increase in the minimum wage from FCFA 36 607 to FCFA 60 000.

The first major trial - 80 defendants - in 2014 will involve only Gbagbo's relatives, including his wife Simone. While security has generally returned to the country, many fear a lull in the situation. The authorities have allowed the pro-Gbagbo supporters to be released and frozen or confiscated assets to be returned, but the courts have not yet charged anyone close to the president and the former rebels. Lastly, there has been very little progress in the political dialogue with the opposition.

At a time when Ivorians are returning to the polls, Côte d'Ivoire is on the road to economic recovery, with 9% growth over the past three years. Henri Konan Bédié, who had called on his supporters to vote for Alassane Ouattara in 2010, has again declared his victory in 2015 in the first round of voting with 83.66% of the votes. The peaceful holding of this election is an important step, as stakeholders recognize a transparent and credible electoral process.

ADO had the new Constitution of the Third Republic adopted by referendum, putting an end to the concept of Ivorian nationality for the presidency, the creation of the post of vice-president and the establishment of a Senate, a measure strongly criticised by the opposition, since one third of its members are appointed by the president. Ahead of this reform, the lifting of UN sanctions encourages the country's economic development.

Côte d'Ivoire suffers its first terrorist attack in Grand-Bassam. The attack, claimed by the Mourabitoun, a group based in northern Mali and affiliated with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, resulted in the death of 22 people: 16 Ivorian and foreign civilians, 3 soldiers and 3 assailants.

Soldiers are calling for wage increases and better treatment. The movement is spreading throughout the country and is winning over the gendarmerie and civil servants. The situation calmed down after tough negotiations thanks to Commander Wattao, who had previously led the military.

The wife of former President Laurent Gbagbo is amnestied as well as nearly 800 people loyal to Gbagbo prosecuted for crimes related to the post-election crisis of 2010-2011, as a sign of appeasement. In addition to the former First Lady, the amnesty concerns former ministers Lida Kouassi and Assoa Adou, and Souleymane Kamaraté Koné, alias Soul to Soul, Guillaume Soro's collaborator.

The Prosecutor has failed to prove the existence of crimes against humanity committed by Laurent Gbagbo and Charles Blé Goudé during the crisis which, according to the ICC, led to more than 3,000 deaths, to everyone's surprise. However, the ICC prosecutor has appealed. Fatou Bensouda is asking for the decision to be overturned and for the trial to be restarted. She cites procedural flaws during the three-year trial and blames the judges for undervaluing the evidence. Gbagbo's continued conditional release in Belgium calls into question his return to the country and his potential candidacy for the presidency in 2020.

The country has experienced strong economic and social development under Ouatarra's two terms, heralding a period of stability. But the beginning of the year was tense, with the opposition criticizing the president for muzzling them and seeking a^third term. The pressure fell in March when ADO officially renounced and chose his dauphin, the current Prime Minister, Amadou Gon Coulibaly, as the RHDP candidate. But the pressure increased following his sudden death on July 8, 2020. ADO then decided to run for a^third term rather than appoint a new successor and it was already too late to organize primaries, crystallizing the anger of the opposition. Henri Konan Bédié was also a candidate in the presidential race, but not Guillaume Soro and Laurent Gbagbo, who were convicted by the Ivorian courts. Sporadic violence occurred in the country in the months leading up to the election. He was finally re-elected in November 2020.

Arrested on July 10 at Bamako airport, 49 Ivorian soldiers were accused by the ruling Malian junta of being mercenaries who had come to "break the momentum of rebuilding and securing Mali" and were imprisoned. The government claims that these troops were deployed in support of the UN mission in Mali (Minusma). The UN first denied this and then agreed with Abidjan, citing "dysfunctions