Koupaki worked in
Dakar at the BCEAO from September 1979 to December 1990, holding a series of high-level posts. Beginning in December 1990, he worked as Deputy Director of the Cabinet of
Alassane Ouattara, the Prime Minister of
Côte d'Ivoire. After Ouattara left office, Koupaki took a position at the IMF in September 1994; he then served as Director of the Cabinet of the Prime Minister of Benin,
Adrien Houngbedji, from April 1996 to May 1998. Following Houngbedji's resignation in May 1998, Koupaki worked at the BCEAO again; he was Director of the Research Department at the BCEAO and then Special Adviser to the Governor, as well as Director of the Department of Research and the Mint. He left the BCEAO when Yayi Boni took office as President of Benin and appointed Koupaki to the government as
Minister of Finance in April 2006. Koupaki was viewed as a potential successor to Boni, but beginning in 2012 there was speculation in the press that he had "fallen out of favour". President Boni dismissed Koupaki and the rest of the government on 9 August 2013. When he appointed a new government on 11 August, it did not include the post of Prime Minister; Boni apparently intended to personally coordinate the government's work. Koupaki stood as a candidate in the
March 2016 presidential election. He was unsuccessful in the first round of voting and backed
Patrice Talon for the second round. Talon won the election, and when he took office on 6 April 2016, he appointed Koupaki as Minister of State and Secretary-General of the Presidency. == References ==