(7 Aug 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Bouake, Ivory Coast – 7 August 2025
1. President of Ivory Coast Alassane Ouattara (wearing a hat) rides on a military vehicle during Independence Day parade
2. Ivorian and American military march during the parade with flags
3. Various of Ivorian military march with equipment
4. SOUNDBITE (French) Amadou Coulibaly, Ivory Coast Communications Minister:
“A country’s strength is certainly measured by its socio-economic development, but also by the strength of its army. This military parade demonstrated the military power that is Ivory Coast. We are pleased that friendly countries like the United States, France, and Morocco participated in this parade, and all of this reflects Ivory Coast’s position on the geostrategic and geopolitical stage.”
5. Various of Ivorian military march during the parade
6. SOUNDBITE (French) Fausti Aboh, senator:
“The military parade was fantastic, because it is often said that those who prepare for peace prepare for war, and we saw that we are a country of peace because our army is at the top.”
7. Moroccan green berets march in the parade
8. Various of Ivorian soldiers and military police march in the parade
9. SOUNDBITE (French) Blaise Danon, senator:
“We are happy and proud to return to the Ivory Coast that we knew from our ancestors. This Ivory Coast, which we had forgotten for a while, we no longer even know about this security issue. Today we have rediscovered our pride in being Ivorian.”
10. Various of Ivorian soldiers slow marching in the parade
11. Parade float depicting an elephant, the emblem of the country and the mascot of the national soccer team
STORYLINE:
Just a week after the Ivorian president announced his intention to run for a controversial fourth term this October, supporters and members of his administration gathered in the central city of Bouaké to mark the country’s 65th independence anniversary with a military parade.
President Alassane Ouattara appeared in a military vehicle at the start of the parade, which was largely off-limits to the public.
French, American, and Moroccan military personnel participated in the event, signaling Ivory Coast’s continued military cooperation with Western powers at a time when much of West Africa is moving in the opposite direction.
Amadou Coulibaly, Ivory Coast’s Communication Minister, praised this military cooperation.
“This military parade demonstrated the military power that is Ivory Coast,” he said. “We are pleased that friendly countries like the United States, France, and Morocco participated in this parade, and all of this reflects Ivory Coast’s position on the geostrategic and geopolitical stage.”
Ivory Coast gained independence from France in 1960. But today the country is one of France’s last remaining allies in French-speaking West Africa. A series of coups in the Sahel led to France’s expulsion from Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger.
France completed its withdrawal from Senegal last month, ending its permanent military presence in West Africa.
Though France also closed its last base in Ivory Coast in February, Ouattara has long been seen as a close ally of Paris, and has been accused by Sahelian leaders of being an outright enemy of their countries.
His candidacy was contested after he changed the constitution in 2016 to remove the presidential term limit.
The 83-year-old won a third term in 2020 after he initially said that he wasn’t going to run again. However, he changed his position following the death of his handpicked successor, Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly.
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