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1 1 (August 24, 2023)

handle is hein.crs/govemqa0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congr ssional lies ifrring Ih Iegislaived dea 3rch Service since 1914 August 24, 2023 C6te d'Ivoire Cote d'Ivoire is a leading economy in West Africa and an increasingly important U.S. security partner amid Islamist insurgencies, military takeovers, and growing Russian activity in the region. President Alassane Ouattara, in office since 2011, has overseen an influx of foreign investment and strong economic growth. In 2020, however, Ouattara's decision to seek a third term despite term limits sparked clashes and recalled a conflict that divided the country from 2002-2011. Cote d'Ivoire also has faced a mounting threat of extremist spillover from Burkina Faso and Mali (see Fig. 1). Militants have staged nearly two dozen attacks in C6te d'Ivoire's north since 2020. The Biden Administration has named Cote d'Ivoire as a partner under the Global Fragility Act of 2019 (Title V, Div. J, P.L. 116-94), as part of the Coastal West Africa sub-region. Funding and oversight of GFA engagement are emergent issues for Congress. Politics Cote d'Ivoire experienced decades of stability and relative prosperity after independence from France in 1960. In the 1990s, tensions mounted over identity and socioeconomic power, drawing on predominately Christian southerners' resentment at perceived displacement by mainly Muslim northerners and foreign migrants, and northerners' anger at alleged marginalization by southerners and the state. Conflict broke out in 2002, and a rebel coalition took control of the north. U.N. peacekeepers and French troops deployed to monitor a ceasefire, and a regionally-brokered peace accord followed in 2007. In 2010 elections, Ouattara, a northerner and ex-prime minister, defeated incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo, a proponent of anti-northern rhetoric. The United States recognized the result. Gbagbo refused to concede, and pro-Ouattara rebels moved southward, leading to a brief war that killed some 3,000 people. In early 2011, rebel forces, backed by French and U.N. troops, arrested Gbagbo, and Ouattara took office. Gbagbo was transferred to the International Criminal Court on charges related to the war; he was acquitted in 2019. Ouattara's administration brought greater stability, buoyed by robust economic growth, but his decision to seek a third term in 2020 triggered unrest. With top opposition figures boycotting or barred from the race, Ouattara won easily. Political clashes killed a reported 85 people. Ouattara has since moved to reduce tensions. A political dialogue paved the way for peaceful National Assembly elections in 2021, in which Ouattara's party took 58% of seats. Ouattara later allowed Gbagbo to return to Cote d'Ivoire after his ICC acquittal. In 2022, he met Gbagbo and Henri Konan Bedid, another former president, turned leader of the largest opposition party, in a reconciliation effort. Cote d'Ivoire's outlook is likely to hinge, in part, on how parties manage a transfer of authority to the next generation as Ouattara (age 81), Gbagbo (78), and B6did (died in 2023, at 89) exit the scene. The next presidential election is slated for 2025. Figure I. Cbte d'Ivoire at a Glance Source: CRS graphic. Information from CIA World Factbook except figures on religious demography, which are drawn from Ivoirian Ministry of Planning and Development, General Census 2021. Foreign Affairs. Cote d'Ivoire maintains close ties with France, which has faced diplomatic strains and growing anti-French sentiment in the neighboring Sahel region. The two countries have longstanding trade and investment ties, and hundreds of French soldiers are deployed to C6te d'Ivoire to support regional operations. In 2021, Ivoirian and French officials inaugurated a counterterrorism training facility, the International Academy for the Fight Against Terrorism (AILCT), near Abidjan, the commercial capital. China is among Cote d'Ivoire's top trading partners, and has financed power, transportation, and other infrastructure projects in the country. Ties with Russia are more limited. Uncommon among African countries, Cote d'Ivoire voted with the United States on all six U.N. General Assembly resolutions related to the Russia-Ukraine war. Surveys have indicated high approval ratings of Russia among Ivoirians however, and Russian-backed social media propaganda operations reportedly have targeted Cote d'Ivoire. Security Con ditions Cote d'Ivoire recorded its first Islamist attack in 2016, when Al Qaeda-affiliated militants killed 19 in a siege on a resort near Abidjan. It experienced its next attack in 2020, when assailants raided a military post along the northeastern border with Burkina Faso, killing 14 security personnel. Ivoirian authorities linked the 2020 attack to the Group for Supporting Islam and Muslims (JNIM), an Al Qaeda affiliate active in Mali and Burkina Faso. C6te d'Ivoire recorded around 20 attacks in 2020-2021, most on military posts and personnel near the Burkina Faso border.

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