Ivory Coast President Allassane Ouattara appoints new Vice President

The governor of the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) Tiémoko Meyliet Koné has been appointed vice-president of Côte d'Ivoire by President Alassane Ouattara on Tuesday.

Ouattara further reappointed Patrick Achi to his premier post.

Mr. Koné, who has headed the BCEAO since 2011, is also an economist and a well-known technocrat.

The position of vice president has been vacant since Daniel Kablan Duncan resigned on July 8, 2020, the day Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly died.

Until his appointment on Tuesday, Tomoko was president of the Central bank of West African states also known as the BCEAO.

He also served between 2007 and 2011, as Director of the Prime Minister's Cabinet, then as Minister of Construction, Urban Planning and Housing, and finally as Special Adviser to the President of the Republic, in charge of economic and monetary issues.

The government stepped down in a long-expected move last Wednesday ahead of ministerial changes expected to place the emphasis on belt-tightening

The Ivorian statesman Patrick Achi has been Prime Minister since March 2021. Initially a member of Henri Konan Bédié's PDCI, he was Minister of Economic Infrastructure between 2000 and 2017 and President of the Regional Council of Mé since 2013