Melissa Chemam/RFI

Ouattara’s campaign poster (file photo)

There are concerns about who the likely successor of President Alassane Ouattara might be as he begins his fourth term in office following the October 25 presidential election. The 83-year-old secured nearly 90% of the votes after Ivorian courts excluded his two main rivals.

Amid lingering threats of protests and unrest against the election results, some have begun to ask who could succeed the aging president if he becomes sick or worse. The situation is likened to the case of the country’s first president, Félix Houphouët-Boigny, who delayed naming his successor until his death, which created instability in the country.

In 2020, Ouattara picked his close ally, Amadou Gon Coulibaly, to replace him, but Gon Coulibaly died three months before the election that year, forcing a rethink. The president’s supporters have insisted he has a half-dozen potential successors in mind, but that "no one ticks all the boxes".