How the Ivorian president's niece acted as Epstein's go-between
Nina Keita, in New York, in 2016. NICHOLAS HUNT/GETTY IMAGES/AFP/LE MONDE The sprawling Epstein case also has a lesser-known African dimension. In Côte d'Ivoire, several high-profile public figures were named in the three million documents published on January 30 by the US Department of Justice. Chief among them is Nina Keita, niece of the country's president, Alassane Ouattara. The 44-year-old former model and one-time adviser to the budget minister, Abdourahmane Cissé (2014-2016), is married to Employment Minister Adama Kamara. Since 2019, she has been serving as the second-in-command at Gestoci, the public company managing Côte d'Ivoire's oil funds, and is a key figure within the ruling circle in Abidjan. The extensive correspondence – hundreds of messages between 2011 and 2018 – between Keita and the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who died in jail in New York in 2019, reveals a close friendship and a partnership that blurred boundaries, typical of the American financier. According to the documents, in 2011, Keita introduced her uncle, then newly elected president of Côte d'Ivoire, to Epstein in New York, and organized a second meeting in Abidjan in 2012, where the American also met several sitting ministers to discuss investment projects. Keita also acted as an intermediary between Ouattara and Epstein in negotiations that led to the 2014 purchase of a surveillance system from Israel and the acquisition of a Boeing 727 for the presidency. At Epstein's request, Keita introduced him to young women and girls. You have 77.61% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.
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