Amara Essy

Amara Essy (20 December 1944 – 8 April 2025) was an Ivorian diplomat and politician. Close to Félix Houphouët-Boigny, he was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Côte d'Ivoire between 1990 and 2000, and in this capacity he served as President of the 49th Session of the United Nations General Assembly between September 1994 and September 1995. Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in 2001, he became interim chairman of the African Union Commission when it was created in July 2002. Essy was born in Bouaké, Ivory Coast on 20 December 1944. He received a bachelor's degree in public law and a higher education diploma in public law as well. He also held a diploma from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Switzerland. Essy began his professional career in 1970 as head of economic relations in the office of technical and economic cooperation. A year later, he was named first counselor of the Ivorian embassy in Brazil. He also served as counselor of the permanent mission of Côte d'Ivoire to the United Nations in New York from 1973 to 1975. He later served as permanent representative of Côte d'Ivoire to the European office of the UN in Geneva and to UNIDO in Vienna, Austria from October 1975 to September 1978.