APA Abidjan (Cote d’Ivoire) Ivorian national Tiemoko Meyliet Kone has been appointed Monday as the governor of the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) after he has been groomed for years within the financial institution, APA learns here.
The appointment was made on the margin of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) summit that opened Monday in the Togolese capital, Lome, with the Presidents of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Bissau Guinea, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo in attendance.
Trained as an Economist, the new BCEAO Governor was recruited courtesy of a BCEAO competitive examination after his higher studies.
He was then upgraded to the institution's top management after an 18-month training at the BCEAO technical and vocational application Centre.
Meyliet made most of his career at the regional bank where he has been successively national assistant director for Cote d’Ivoire, Central director for issuance and financial transactions at the Dakar headquarters.
Consequently, he was member of the Analysis committee on internal and international economic crisis.
The BCEAO boss has once been National director for Cote d'Ivoire and substitute Governor of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 1991 to 1998.
He was later appointed Adviser to the Governor and Director of the General Administration and Training department.
He was also Comptroller General in charge of the supervision of operational managements of inspection, internal audit, controls and risk prevention.
He became later Special Advisor to the Governor and member of the Bank's government.
Consequently, he took part in all the decisions taken for the management of the Central Bank, the elaboration and implementation of the member states’ monetary policies until December 2006.
In 2007, Meyliet integrated Cote d’Ivoire’s Public Administration and became successively principal assistant to the Premier, with a minister grade (2007 to 2010).
In February 2010, he was appointed Construction, Town planning and Housing minister before becoming in December 2010, Special advisor to the President of the Republic, in charge of economic and monetary affairs.
At the Bank’s headquarters, his colleagues saw him as "a competent, very rigorous and discrete leader".
Meyliet has collaborated with the three successive governors, namely late Abdoulaye Fadiga, Alassane Ouattara, and Charles Konan Banny.
Portrayed as a BCEAO seasoned technocrat, Meyliet is said to be enough skilled to restore the Bank’s prestige before it experienced that recent crisis, according to many analysts.
He is married and has five children.
Cote d’Ivoire has been rocked by a unprecedented protracted crisis following the November 2010 disputed presidential polls.
At least 3000 people are reportedly killed during the fighting between troops loyal either to President Alassane Ouattara or presidential claimant Laurant Gbagbo.
The crisis suddenly ended with the capture of Gbagbo on 11 April, alongside his family staff, close associates and diehard supporters.
