As Côte d’Ivoire prepares for its October 25 presidential election, GTR speaks to Brian Klaas, a fellow at the London School of Economics and consultant at Menas Associates, about political risk and investment opportunities in the country.

Klaas believes the upcoming election should go relatively smoothly, with current president Alassane Ouattara largely expected to win. However, he explains that tensions remain from the civil war that broke out following the last election, when Ouattara’s victory was contested by partisans of his opponent Laurent Gbagbo – who himself is currently awaiting trial for crimes against humanity in The Hague.

It remains to be seen whether Gbagbo partisans will also contest the result of Sunday’s election, but Klaas is optimistic that stability should prevail, and with forecast GDP growth of over 9% in 2015, Côte d’Ivoire is likely to attract more and more investment, particularly in its cocoa sector, but also in oil and gas.