Ex-Credit Suisse boss election block could hurt Ivorian businesses

Thiam’s exclusion stems from a legal complaint filed by private citizens citing a rarely used clause in the 1961 Nationality Code. The law states that any adult who acquires another nationality automatically forfeits Ivorian citizenship. Thiam is exploring ways in which to mount an appeal, according to Chichportich.

He is the fourth major political figure in Côte d’Ivoire barred from running for president, after former President Laurent Gbagbo, former Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, and former Youth Minister Charles Blé Goudé.

Côte d’Ivoire has wrestled with bouts of insecurity since the country descended into a bloody civil war in 2002 that lasted five years. Ouattara, who took office in 2011 after months of violence that followed his predecessor’s refusal to accept electoral defeat, has presided over a period of economic growth that has outstripped other countries in the region.

But Ouattara’s controversial decision to seek a third term — a move many opposition parties viewed as unconstitutional — triggered unrest in 2020.

“Until now, the consensus was that this election cycle would be calmer than in 2020, which saw violence,” said Chaudhuri. “But even without unrest, uncertainty over how the vote will be conducted can impact consumption and investment — as seen in Senegal, where growth slowed and consumption fell during the 2024 election period.”

A broader concern lies beyond Thiam’s case: The sudden enforcement of dormant legal provisions. The particular clause invoked against him was almost never used against political figures — except for a case in 2011 — and its reactivation raises questions about what other long-overlooked laws could be resurrected for political (or business) ends.

The Abidjan court ruled in April that Thiam lost his Ivorian citizenship in 1987 when he became French, only regaining it in March 2025 after he renounced that nationality — too late to qualify for the late 2024 electoral roll update.

Chichportich, Thiam’s lawyer, argues that his client’s dual nationality was long known and never contested, even during his tenure as a minister in the 1990s. Thiam has also pointed out that half of the country’s football team holds dual citizenship — and that ignoring such realities would undermine the legitimacy of many public figures and national symbols.

Questions of nationality — or Ivoirité — have been used to sideline political opponents in Côte d’Ivoire for more than a generation. Former President Henri Konan Bédié was accused of having a Ghanaian father. Thiam’s case shows how arcane legal precedents could be used to great effect to undermine high-profile individuals.

Some, including within Thiam’s party, argue that he should have anticipated the legal outcome and renounced his French citizenship after being elected PDCI president in December 2023.

One adviser to French companies in Abidjan, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Semafor: “Investors like predictability. If the Thiam decision doesn’t cause turbulence, the economy keeps growing, and the country stays on a steady course, no one will make a fuss — aside from the standard formal statements from Western embassies. Everyone has their role.”

“Among many business leaders, especially SME [small and medium enterprise] heads who lived through the 2010 crisis, there’s real fear and apprehension,” said Georges Yao Yao, co-founder of Y3 Audit & Conseils. “But there’s also a shared sense that, given all the progress and investment since 2011, there are strong incentives not to risk sliding backwards.”