Henri Konan Bédié, a past leader of Ivory Coast, who was one of the long-serving politicians in the country, has passed away at the age of 89. A family member informed Reuters about this on Tuesday.
Bédié was Ivory Coast’s second president after gaining independence from France in 1960. He led from 1993 until economic problems and corruption allegations led to his removal in a 1999 coup. He’s known for promoting “ivoirité” which caused tensions between locals and foreign workers. He stayed active in politics and at 86, he lost to rival Alassane Ouattara in 2020 elections. His cause of death is currently unknown. His spokesperson couldn’t be reached for comment.
Bédié, the son of a poor farmer, was born on May 5, 1934, in Dadiekro, which is 300 kilometers away from the main city, Abidjan. He did really well in school and was one of the top 100 students chosen in the early 1950s to go to France for studies. He got a fancy degree in economics from Poitiers University.
In 1959, he started working for the French government and was sent to the French embassy in Washington. When Ivory Coast became its own country in 1960, Bédié became the ambassador there.
When he was 32 years old, he got the job of looking after the economy. This was a time when the country was growing quickly because of the coffee and cocoa industries. These industries are still the main things that make Ivory Coast’s economy go.