Youssouf Bakayoko

Youssouf Bakayoko ( born April 1, 1943 in Bouaké ) is a diplomat and politician of the Ivory Coast.

Biography

After school he first completed a degree at the University of Paris- Nanterre, where he graduated with a licentiate (Licence des lettres ) 1969. Then he entered the diplomatic service and completed postgraduate studies at l'Institut Universitaire de Hautes Etudes Internationales in Geneva and the Institut des Hautes Etudes de la Défense Nationale ( IHEDN ) in Paris, he in 1971 and 1972 respectively and graduated with diplomas. After his return to the Ivory Coast, he was first an employee of the Department of Conferences and negotiations at the State Department before he 1973-1976 Diplomat at the Permanent Missions to the United Nations and the International Organisations in Geneva and at the United Nations Organization for Industrial Development ( UNIDO ) was in Vienna. Between 1977 and 1979 he was a diplomat at the embassy in Switzerland and then to 1983 at the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany.

In 1983 he was appointed ambassador and as such was until 1990 Director of the checkout to stabilize and support the prices of agricultural products ( Caisse de Stabilisation et de Soutien the Prix des Productions Agricole ) in Paris. In 1990, he returned to his home country and was until 1995 the mayor ( mayor ) of Séguéla.

In 1995 he was elected a deputy of the National Assembly ( Assemblée Nationale), which he served until 2005. During this time he was between 1995 and 2000, first vice-president, and then until 2005, President of the Foreign Affairs Committee. In the meantime, was Bakayoko 1996-1997 Chairman of Ivorian society to administer the assets of the railway ( Société de gestion du Patrimoine Ivoirienne Ferroviaire ( SIPF ) ) in Abidjan.

On December 28, 2005, he was appointed by Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny as foreign minister in his cabinet. This office he retained also in the government formed by Guillaume Soro on March 29, 2007. In an interview, he called in April 2008, a more consistent approach to the UN to solve the problems of the divided country. This demand, he again expressed in his speech at the 63rd United Nations General Assembly in September 2008.

Bakayoko belongs to the Parti Démocratique de Côte d' Ivoire - Rassemblement Démocratique Africain chaired by Henri Konan Bédié and is a member of the Politburo of the PDCI - RDA.

Bakayoko is President of the Independent Electoral Commission of Côte d'Ivoire (CEI ).