Youssouf Bakayoko

Youssouf Bakayoko (19 April 1943 – 30 September 2023) was an Ivorian politician and diplomat who served in the government as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 3 January 2006 to March 2010. From 2010, he was President of the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI), presiding over the 2010 presidential election.

Bakayoko obtained in 1969 a license from the University of Paris-Nanterre. He then entered the diplomatic service and completed postgraduate studies at Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva and at the Institut des Hautes Etudes de la Défense Nationale in Paris, from which he graduated in 1971 and 1972 respectively.

Youssouf Bakayoko died on 30 September 2023, at the age of 80.