Ivory Coast's President Alassane Ouattara secured a fourth term on Monday, according to the provisional results of the Independent Electoral Commission. Nearly nine million voters were eligible to cast their ballots on Saturday. 

The Ivory Coast heads to the polls on Saturday. Five candidates – among them President Alassane Ouattara – are competing for the top job, while several key rivals have been excluded from the race. 

The two main opposition leaders are barred from Saturday's presidential vote, as a 44,000-strong security operation is deployed nationwide.

Unlike her ex-husband Laurent Gbagbo, who served as president from 2000 to 2010 and is barred from running, Simone Gbagbo is set to face his former archrival at the polls: President Alassane Ouattara, the clear favorite in the race.

In President Alassane Ouattara’s stronghold of Abobo, a working-class commune in Abidjan’s north, the incumbent’s supporters are convinced that he will win Saturday’s presidential election in a first-round “knockout blow”. FRANCE 24 spoke to some of the president’s most ardent fans about what three terms of Ouattara have done for the neighbourhood.

Protests have been banned and opposition figures sidelined as 83-year-old president ignores calls to step down

Opponents including ex-Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam are barred from standing in October vote

Four major opposition figures will be unable to contest Ivory Coast's October presidential election, the country's electoral commission announced Wednesday, having been struck from the final voter list. 

Abidjan (AFP) – Ivory Coast's main opposition leader Tidjane Thiam, struck off the electoral list in a row over his nationality, told AFP Wednesday his party would not replace him as its candidate in October's presidential election.

Ivory Coast announced on Tuesday that French troops will begin withdrawing in January as part of a shift towards strengthening its own military forces. This move follows broader trends across West Africa, with nations like Senegal and Chad also reevaluating their defence partnerships and asserting greater sovereignty.

Former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo agreed on Saturday to lead the party he founded into the 2025 presidential elections, spokesman Katinan Kone told Reuters following a meeting of the party's central committee. 

Hosts Ivory Coast eliminated reigning champions Senegal in a penalty shootout to book their place in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals following a 1-1 draw after extra time in Yamoussoukro.

Hosts Ivory Coast have reached the quarter finals after knocking out Senegal on penalties.The Lions of Teranga opened the scoring with Habib Diallo thrashing in the top corner. Frank Kessie equalised for the Elephants from the spot late in the second half. With nothing to break the deadlock, Moussa Niakhate missed the crucial kick as Kessie scored to send the Ivory Coast through. 

Hosts Ivory Coast stunned Senegal at the Africa Cup of Nations on Monday, knocking out the reigning champions on penalties in the last 16 to keep their hopes of winning the title on home soil alive.

Five-time champions Cameroon were held to a draw by 10-man Guinea as the early stages of the Africa Cup of Nations continued to produce surprise results.

Ivorian-French banker Tidjane Thiam was Friday elected leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Ivory Coast, a victory which puts him in position to contest the next presidential election in 2025.

Ivory Coast's President Alassane Ouattara has removed the prime minister and dissolved his government, the presidency's secretary general Aboudramane Cisse said on Friday.

Former Ivory Coast President Henri Konan Bédié, part of an old guard of politicians who dominated politics in the West African nation for a generation, has died aged 89, a close relative told Reuters on Tuesday.

Charles Ble Goude, a key figure in post-electoral violence that swept Ivory Coast 11 years ago, wants to make a low-key homecoming this weekend, his representatives said on Thursday.