Alassane Ouattara

Alassane Dramane Ouattara first served as prime minister of Côte d’Ivoire (the Ivory Coast) from 1990 to 1993. Ouattara was blocked from running in 1995 due to a questionable law that barred children of foreigners from office—his mother was from neighboring Burkina Faso. Ouattara worked as an economist for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and in 1988 he was appointed Governor of Central Bank of West African States. In the 2010 election, the U.N. confirmed that Ouattara defeated incumbent Laurent Gbagbo, and he later supported the French-backed rebel forces in an effort to force Gbagbo from power.