Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara has appointed several new ministers and government officials in a bid to shore up political alliances ahead of next year’s general elections, just 14 months after his previous reshuffle. However, Ouattara has opted to retain Amadou Gon Coulibaly as Prime Minister and Abdourahmane Cisse as Minister of Oil, Energy & Renewable Energy. Also retained in office are Jean Claude Kouassi as Minister for Mines & Geology and Souleymane Diarrassouba as Minister of Trade, Industry & Small Business.