83-Year-Old Alassane Ouattara Re-Elected For Fourth Term As Ivory Coast President

President Alassane Ouattara has won a fourth term in Ivory Coast’s 2025 election, with provisional results showing a decisive victory for the 83-year-old leader.

Ivory Coast’s Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) announced on Monday that Alassane Ouattara secured 89.77 percent of the votes.

His main rivals were former commerce minister Jean-Louis Billon and former first lady Simone Gbagbo.

Billon, who conceded defeat on Sunday, received 3.09 percent of the vote, while Gbagbo earned 2.42 percent, according to IEC president Ibrahime Coulibaly-Kuibiert.

The former first lady has reportedly congratulated Ouattara over the electoral victory.

Many Ivorians were not surprised by the result, as the IEC had disqualified several potential challengers, including former President Laurent Gbagbo, who could have posed a serious threat to Ouattara’s bid.

A former deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Ouattara is credited with leading an economy that has seen years of steady growth.

Tidjane Thiam, former CEO of Credit Suisse and one of the disqualified candidates, criticized the election, calling it “not a real election” and claiming it took place in an atmosphere of fear with low voter turnout.

Ouattara has said this will be his final term, extending his nearly 15 years in power and making him one of West Africa’s longest-serving leaders.

However, he is still far from Cameroon’s Paul Biya, who recently won his eighth consecutive term after 43 years in office.

At 92, Biya is the world’s oldest sitting president and Africa’s second-longest-serving leader, after President Teodoro Nguema of Equatorial Guinea.