ABIDJAN, — Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara has unveiled a cabinet reshuffle that largely preserves the core of his economic and security team while elevating his younger brother, Defence Minister Téné Birahima Ouattara, to a newly created deputy prime minister post—an appointment that underscores continuity after a string of decisive electoral victories for the ruling party.
In a statement from the presidency, Téné Birahima Ouattara will retain the influential defence portfolio while serving as deputy prime minister, a move that places him higher in the executive hierarchy without signalling a broad overhaul of government. Prime Minister Robert Beugré Mambé remains in office, maintaining the administration’s existing leadership structure at the top of government.
The reshuffle follows parliamentary elections in December in which Ouattara’s Rally of Houphouëtists for Democracy and Peace (RHDP) secured a dominant majority—reported as 197 of 255 seats, or just over three-quarters of the chamber—reinforcing the president’s legislative control ahead of the next phase of his fourth-term agenda. It also comes roughly three months after Ouattara was re-elected with 89.77% of the vote in an October presidential poll, according to provisional results cited by Reuters and the country’s electoral authorities.
Beyond the deputy prime minister appointment, political reshuffling extended to parliament: former prime minister Patrick Achi was named speaker of the National Assembly, while Vice-President Tiémoko Meyliet Koné, 84, retained his position.
One of the most notable departures is at the agriculture ministry. Long-serving minister Kobenan Kouassi Adjoumani—who had held the portfolio since 2011—left office at a time when cocoa-sector pressures have intensified, with global prices falling and export dynamics shifting against farmers. Days earlier, the government said it would buy unsold cocoa stocks to keep exports flowing and ensure farmers are paid, after the main cocoa farmers’ union estimated hundreds of thousands of tonnes remained unsold amid the price drop.
Ouattara, 84, has led Ivory Coast since 2011 and has said he intends to prepare the ground for a new generation of leaders even as his administration prioritises stability and growth in the world’s top cocoa-producing economy.
