Ouattara's Abidjan: Four Years of Epstein's Ivory Coast Access

December 2010. Ivory Coast was mid-civil war. Laurent Gbagbo had refused to concede after losing the election to Alassane Ouattara, and fighting was spreading across Abidjan. Karim Wade, son of Senegal's president, wrote to Epstein to explain why he had gone quiet: "I am on the crisis on Ivory Coast." Epstein wrote back: "I m with Prince Andrew at my house in New York, call if you get a chance... We are talking about the opportuites in Africa" (vol00009-efta00633187-pdf-1). Prince Andrew was in the room.

Ouattara won the war in April 2011. UN and French forces arrested Gbagbo. Epstein was already booking the trip. His pilot's proposed routing listed the stops: Newark, Azores, Dakar, Bamako, Niamey, Benin City, Libreville, Abidjan (EFTA01866037-0). The same month Nina Keita, Ouattara's niece, a former model who had been on Epstein's jet since at least 2002, wrote asking for "more details concerning your trip to Abidjan."

January 2012. Epstein landed in Abidjan. A forwarded email described his schedule: "He is scheduled with the president at 4pm then minister of economy and finance at 6:30pm. Dinner at 8:30 with minister of interior." (EFTA01990469-0). "Wednesday he meets with director of bureau of commerce and industry at 10, then ceo of the port at 12 with a tour of the port. Lunch with general coulibaly around 2pm" (EFTA01990469-0). Amadou Gon Coulibaly would later become Prime Minister.

The Gates Foundation connection had started before he left. On January 11, Epstein hosted Jenna Brereton at his Manhattan home. Brereton worked at Geneva Global, a consulting firm that had administered a PEPFAR grant in Ivory Coast, and was seconded to the Gates Foundation's Global Health Policy & Advocacy division. Boris Nikolic had flagged her interest in Africa. After the meeting Epstein wrote: "I am going to see the president of the Ivory coast , in abdigan and spend a couple of days with him and his top ministers.. I wanted to know if there was something i could do to help you there" (EFTA01843946-2). He followed up the same evening: "I am good friends with Outarra as well as many of the more normal leaders. Boris told me of your interest in africa" (EFTA01844230-1).

February 6, 2012. Lesley Groff relayed a request: "Leon Black's guy, Ali Rasheed, says he would like to meet with the minister of the ivory coast today, Monday Feb 6th. Ali just needs to know where and what time." The signature read "leon Black's office." Melanie Spinella, assistant to Leon D. Black at Apollo Management, had emailed Groff that morning. Epstein forwarded Spinella's email with a one-line instruction: "Please advise how to respond." The meeting never happened. Spinella wrote back hours later: "Never mind - just spoke to Lean - apparently they spoke and the Minister has left!" (vol00009-efta00420435-pdf-2).

Two days after the Apollo thread went cold, Nina Keita wrote to Epstein apologising on Ouattara's behalf. The president was "really unhappy and annoyed." Epstein had tried to introduce a minister to an investor without clearing it through the presidential chain. Nina relayed the protocol: all contacts had to go through Ouattara personally, or through Marcel Amon Tanoh, his director of staff, or Amadou Gon Coulibaly. "The ministers execute but all the orders come from him and the 2 other people" (EFTA01841982-0).

Epstein routed the next introduction through the correct channel. He connected Brereton and Nina directly: "jenna, nina is the niece of the president of the ivory coast. i am making this my introduction of two extraordinary women to each other" (EFTA01838954-1). Nina wrote back, relaying that Epstein had called Brereton "in charge of the Ivory Coast at the Gates Foundation." She had already taken the request to Marcel Amon Tanoh, who was "very interested in discussing opportunities for the Gates Foundation to fund health and education initiatives in the Ivory Coast" (EFTA01838954-0). Brereton replied that program officers at the Foundation worked by strategy, not geography, and asked Nina to have Tanoh identify a specific topic (vol00009-efta00708736-pdf-0).

In June 2012, Ouattara flew to Jerusalem and met Ehud Barak, then Israel's Defence Minister, and Netanyahu. Epstein had been seeing Barak regularly for years. In September 2013 Epstein sent Barak the personal email address of Sidi Tiémoko Touré, Ouattara's chief of staff: "chief of staff of outara, he arrives tomorw, try to coordianate, i am flexible" (b06cfc4532695383b7fb74ed77baf90a-0). Keita had made the connection.

October 5, 2014. Epstein wrote to Larry Summers: "can you make some small time to meet with the finance minister from ivory coast. hes very close to outarra the president former goldman sachs guy Minister Abdourahmane Cisse" (EFTA02590489-0). Summers had served as US Treasury Secretary under Clinton and as President of Harvard. Summers replied the next day: "Sure I know Outtara. What does he want to talk about? How corrupt is he?" (vol00009-efta00997980-pdf-0). Epstein in the same chain: "this is the finance minister, outarra is trying hard. not sure of subject. but very well regarded in west africa. Ill tell you all about it wed" (vol00009-efta00997980-pdf-0).

October 15. Cissé wrote to Epstein from his official Côte d'Ivoire ministerial address: "Dear Jeffrey, Thanks very much for arranging, with Nina, the meeting with Larry Summers. I've honestly been impressed by his humbleness. Let's keep in touch and please do not hesitate to contact me if I could be of any help" (vol00009-efta00998827-pdf-0). The signature: "Abdou Cisse / Abdourahmane Cisse / Minister in charge of Budget, Côte d'Ivoire."

A mass surveillance contract was formalised the same year: Ivory Coast's phone and internet communications, built by former Israeli intelligence officials.

Cissé later became Secretary General of the Presidency of Côte d'Ivoire, the equivalent of chief of staff to Ouattara. Ouattara has since banned protests and imprisoned opponents. The emails do not establish a link between the surveillance system and those crackdowns.