Audience

Mrs. Dominique Ouattara, First Lady of Côte d'Ivoire, received on Tuesday, October 3, 2017, at her office in Cocody, the young African and French leaders.

The project was Initiated by the AfricaFrance association in partnership with the French Development Agency to respond to a strong need for professional training and support for leadership expressed by both African and French public and private actors. The members of this group of young leaders have been selected among the best in Africa and France. The twenty young leaders were given the opportunity to meet high level personalities (entrepreneurs, public decision-makers or academics) who told them about their convictions and their experience in a spirit of building a common world and a sustainable and inclusive growth. This is essentially the meaning of the hearing granted by Mrs. Dominique Ouattara to this group. She took this opportunity to share her experience as a former businesswoman and her commitment to humanitarian activities.

For a little more than thirty minutes, Mrs. Dominique Ouattara explained her career as businesswoman to the guests but also her commitment as First Lady after the accession in 2011 of President Alassane Ouattara to power.

But well before Mrs. Dominique Ouattara congratulated the members of the group for their selection. "First of all, congratulations to each and every one of you for your brilliant selection for this program of excellence, which highlights the entrepreneurial skills and leadership of young players in the African and French economies. Indeed, you were about 600 young professionals from 43 different countries to apply for this program, and only 20 of you were finally selected for the first promotion of Young Leaders. I am proud of you! You brilliantly passed this strict selection. It proves your skills and your high level of leadership ", she said. For Dominique Ouattara, this program is a real opportunity for Africa and France. "This is an opportunity to value your talents and abilities to better serve the continent at the economic and social level,"  she said.