President of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire. He started as an economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 1968. He joined the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) in 1973. In 1984, he was appointed Director of the African Department at the IMF. In 1988, he was named Governor of the BCEAO. In 1990, he was appointed Chairman of the Interministerial Committee for Coordination of the Stabilization and Economic Recovery Programme by President Félix Houphouët-Boigny. Then, he became Prime Minister. In 1993, he went back to the IMF where he was named Deputy Managing Director. In 1999, he left the IMF and went back to Côte d’Ivoire. He was elected President of the Rally of the Republicans (RDR). He graduated from Drexel Institute of Technology, and the University of Pennsylvania.
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