Henri Konan Bedie, former Ivory Coast president, dies at 89

Abidjan — Former Ivory Coast president Henri Konan Bedie, 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 said on Tuesday.

Bedie ruled as Ivory Coast’s second president after independence from France in 1960. He held the post from 1993 until an economic slump and allegations of corruption led to his overthrow in a military coup in 1999.

He was long remembered — and in some parts reviled — for his role in promoting the issue of “ivoirite”, or Ivorian identity, which fuelled tensions between those who considered themselves natives in the south and east, and the many foreign workers from neighbouring countries who had settled in the country's north.

Bedie remained in politics almost until the end. At 86, he ran a losing race against veteran political rival President Alassane Ouattara in elections in 2020.

The cause of Bedie’s death was not immediately known. His spokesperson could not be reached for comment.

The son of a low-income farmer, Bedie was born on May 5 1934 at Dadiekro, 300km east of the commercial capital Abidjan.

He excelled at school and was among 100 promising students picked in the early 1950s to study in France, where he gained a doctorate in economics at Poitiers University.

In 1959, he joined the French diplomatic service and was posted as a counsellor to the French embassy in Washington. When Ivory Coast won independence in 1960, Bedie was appointed as its ambassador there.

Six years later, aged 32, he was put in charge of the economy during a period of rapid growth buoyed by expansion of the coffee and cocoa sectors, which remain the country’s main economic drivers.

Reuters