Patrick Jérôme Achi (born 17 November 1955) is an Ivorian politician who served as Prime Minister of Côte d'Ivoire from March 2021 to October 2023 in President Alassane Ouattara's government. He is a member of the Rally of the Republicans (RDR). He studied at Supélec and Stanford University and specialises in engineering and infrastructure. He has also worked as the government spokesman for President Alassane Ouattara. Prior to this he was Secretary General of the Presidency from January 2017, before being promoted to Minister of State, while simultaneously serving as Executive Secretary of the National Council for Economic Policy responsible for the oversight and execution of the 2030 Strategic Plan and the 5-year government program "Côte d'Ivoire Solidaire 2021-2025", a responsibility he retained as prime minister. On 13 April 2022, PM Achi resigned, along with his government, but was reinstated by President Ouattara before being removed on 6 October 2023 with the dissolution of the Ivorian government. Achi officially resigned for a second time on 18 October 2023.

Early life and education

Achi, born in Paris to an Ivorian father (from the Attié tribe located in the South region) and a French Breton mother. He was educated in France and the United States. Achi holds a Bachelor's degree in Physics from the Université de Cocody in Abidjan, a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from École Supérieure d'Électricité de Paris (SUPELEC) and a Master of Science degree in Management from Stanford University, California.

Private sector career

In 1983, he began his career as Consultant with Arthur Andersen in their Paris office. In 1988, he relocated to the Abidjan office as a Director in the Consulting Division for French-speaking West and Central Africa before founding his firm, Strategie & Management Consultants in 1992.

Political career

Between 2010 and 2017, Achi was Minister of Economic Infrastructure for the governments of successive Prime Ministers Guillaume Soro (2010–2012), Jeannot Ahoussou-Kouadio (2012) and Daniel Kablan Duncan (2012–2017). Achi was appointed acting prime minister on 8 March 2021 to assume the duties of Prime Minister Hamed Bakayoko, who had been hospitalized. Bakayoko died two days later. Achi was appointed as the Prime Minister on 26 March 2021 by President Ouattara. In this capacity, he emerged as a key figure in discussions to resolve a large power generation deficit that had strained electricity supplies in urban areas for several weeks. On 13 April 2022, he and his government resigned. On 19 April, he was reappointed as prime minister by President Ouattara but with a cabinet reshuffle and the formation of a second government. Ouattara removed Achi from his position on 6 October 2023 and dissolved his government. Achi officially resigned in 18 October same year. After leaving government, Achi devoted his time to his role as President of the Regional Council of La Mé. He was appointed President of the Regional Council of La Mé for the first time in 2013.

International diplomacy and outreach

In his capacity as Minister of Economic Infrastructure and later prime minister, Patrick Achi represented Côte d'Ivoire at economic, investment and development focused African and international conferences, round tables and forums. These include :

Other activities

Personal life

On 16 April 2020, Achi announced that he had tested positive for COVID-19 and was self-isolating until further notice. In May 2021, he was flown to Paris due to "severe fatigue" and for medical checks. He has 5 children. Achi's mother, Marianne Le Du died in France in November 2023.