Jean-Claude Kassi Brou (born 1953) is an Ivorian politician and economist. He has been President of the
Economic Community of West African States
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS; also known as in French and Portuguese) is a regional political union, political and economic union of fifteen countries located in West Africa. Collectively, these countries comprise an ...
Commission since March 2018. He previously served as Minister of Industry and Mines of Ivory Coast between November 2012 and March 2018.
Life
Brou was born in 1953. In 1976 he obtained a degree in economics from the National University of Ivory Coast. He moved to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
where he studied at the
University of Cincinnati
The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,00 ...
, obtaining a master's degree in economics in 1979, an MBA in finance in 1980 and his PhD in economics in 1982. He worked as a professor of economics at the same university between 1981 and 1982. Brou started working for the
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster globa ...
in 1982. He worked as an economist and senior economist in several African countries. From 1990 to 1991 he was the IMF's resident representative in
.
Brou then returned to Ivory Coast, where he served as Economic and Financial Advisor to the Prime Minister from 1991 to 1995. He was subsequently appointed as Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister
Daniel Kablan Duncan
Daniel Kablan Duncan (born 30 June 1943) is an Ivorian politician. He previously served as Prime Minister of Ivory Coast from 11 December 1993 to 24 December 1999 and again from November 2012 to January 2017. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs ...
, in which capacity he served until 1999. In this period he was also head of the privatisation committee, during which 70 state-owned companies were privatized. Brou worked for the
Central Bank of West African States
The Central Bank of West African States (french: Banque Centrale des États de l'Afrique de l'Ouest, BCEAO) is a central bank serving the eight west African countries which share the common West African CFA franc currency and comprise the West ...
between 2000 and 2008. From 2010 until 2012 he was the
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...
representative for
Chad
Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...
. In November 2012 he was appointed Minister of Industry and Mines in the government of President
Alassane Ouattara
Alassane Dramane Ouattara (; ; born 1 January 1942) is an Ivorian politician who has been President of Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire) since 2010. An economist by profession, Ouattara worked for the International Monetary Fund (IMF)Marcel Alain de Souza on 1 March 2018. Brou had remained Minister of Industry and Mines until his appointment.
In June 2022, Jean-Claude Brou was appointed as the new governor of the BCEA
Brou is married and has two children.