The word Ivoirité (French pronunciation: [i.vwa.ʁi.te]; sometimes translated into English as Ivoirity) entered the social and political lexicon of Ivory Coast during the presidency of Henri Konan Bédié (1993–1999).
[1] During Bedie's presidency, ethnic tensions rose sharply, with growing attacks on foreign workers and a widening rift between the country's predominantly Muslim north and mainly Christian south.
Before the 1995 presidential election, a law drafted by Bédié and upheld by the Supreme Court required both parents of a candidate to be born in Ivory Coast.
This led to the disqualification of the opposition candidate Alassane Ouattara, who claimed to represent the predominantly Muslim north, often poor migrant labourers from Mali and Burkina Faso working on coffee and cocoa plantations.
Ouattara, an economist who worked for the IMF, was the prime minister of Ivory Coast under President Félix Houphouët-Boigny, from 1990 until 1993.