Sidya Toure, a former prime minister of Guinea and prominent opposition politician, has died in Paris at the age of 81.

Sources close to his family told AFP that Toure died on Friday after being hospitalised at the American Hospital of Paris for about two weeks.

He had reportedly fallen ill while in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, where he had lived since leaving Guinea after the September 2021 military coup that brought Mamady Doumbouya to power.

Toure remained the leader of the Union of Republican Forces, one of Guinea’s major opposition parties, despite living in exile.

The party was among 40 political groups dissolved by Guinean authorities in March as part of measures that affected political parties and civil liberties in the country.

Toure had been a major figure in Guinean politics for decades. He was appointed prime minister in July 1996 by then-President Lansana Conte and remained in office until March 1999.

During his time as prime minister, Toure pursued administrative and economic reforms and worked to strengthen Guinea’s relationship with international financial institutions.

After leaving government, he became leader of the Union of Republican Forces in 2000 and emerged as a prominent opponent of Conte and later administrations.

He contested Guinea’s presidential elections in 2010 and 2015 as the UFR candidate but was unsuccessful on both occasions.

Toure was born in 1945 in Ivory Coast and also worked in the country’s economic and financial administration during part of his career.

His death was acknowledged by Guinea’s Prime Minister Amadou Oury Bah, who described Toure as an important figure in the country’s political life for three decades.

Bah said Toure was particularly known for his approach to political and economic reform and expressed respect for his memory.