Ivory Coast’s President Alassane Ouattara secured a fourth term Monday with 89.77 percent, according to the provisional results of the Independent Electoral Commission.
Nearly nine million voters were eligible to cast their ballot Saturday in the world’s top cocoa producer, which has resisted coups and jihadist attacks plaguing much of West Africa.
The electoral commission announced the winner Monday afternoon.
Electoral commission president Ibrahime Coulibaly-Kuibiert earlier put turnout at around 50 percent – a similar level to 2020, when Ouattara won 94 percent of the vote in an election boycotted by the main opponents.
This time around, Ouattara’s leading rivals – former president Laurent Gbagbo and Credit Suisse ex-CEO Tidjane Thiam – were both barred from standing, Gbagbo for a criminal conviction and Thiam for having acquired French nationality.
Presidential elections are commonly rife with tension and unrest. On Monday, Abidjan returned to near-normal activity after the capital was unusually deserted over the weekend.
