Ivorian president Alassane Ouattara at a polling station during the presidential election in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, on Saturday, October 25, 2025. MISPER APAWU / AP
It is impossible to miss and visible from miles around. In the center of Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire's economic capital, a massive structure is rising. Six more floors need to be built before Tower F is complete and after that, a large spire will be added to its summit. That finishing touch is crucial: Once inaugurated in 2026, the building's height will increase from 333 to 421 meters, thus becoming the tallest building in Africa. Alassane Ouattara will be able to claim he has outdone his predecessors on the continent.
The Ivorian president has already left his mark: that of a leader who thinks on a "grand" scale, as his presidential campaign posters proclaimed, and as his number of electoral victories now attests. Following the vote held on Saturday, October 25, the outgoing head of state, 83 years old, was reelected for a fourth term.
With 89.77% of the vote, according to provisional results announced on Monday by the Independent Electoral Commission, Ouattara failed to avoid a "Soviet-style" score, as his communications team would have preferred; that figure only thinly veiled the political scene's tight control.
