Tiémoko Meyliet Koné

Koné was born 26 April 1949 in Tafiré.[2] He is part of the Senoufo ethnic group. He is married and has 5 children.[3]

Koné joined the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) in 1975. He served as BCEAO National Director and Alternate Governor at the IMF from 1991 to 1998.[4]

Koné was Chairman of the Board of Directors of the UEMOA Pension Fund (CRRAE-UEMOA) from 1996 to 2006. During his career at the BCEAO, he became good friends with another Ivorian banker, Alassane Ouattara. In 2007, Ouattara encouraged the new Prime Minister Guillaume Soro to take Koné as chief of staff. He served as chief of staff from 2007 to 2010.[5]

Koné was then Minister of Construction, Urban Planning and Housing in 2010 in the Soro government, then Special Advisor to the President of the Republic, in charge of Economic and Monetary Affairs. In September 2017, he was elected as a member of the Board of Directors of the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) in which he represented the regions of sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and South Africa. He served as governor of the BCEAO from 2011 to 2022.[6]

Koné was appointed Vice-President by Alassane Ouattara on 19 April 2022. He thus became the deputy of the President. He was sworn in on 20 April 2022 by the Constitutional Council. President Ouattara shared he was fully confident of the appointment, saying; “Tiémoko Meyliet Koné is a brilliant economist, an outstanding technocrat, a competent and hardworking man who has my full confidence.”[7]

Koné has received several honours and decorations. He has been awarded; Grand Officer of the National Order of Benin and Officer of the French Legion of Honor, Commander of the National Order of Ivory Coast, Commander of the National Order of Guinea Bissau and Commander of the International Academic Palms from CAMES (African and Malagasy Council for Higher Education).[8]