Tidjane Thiam

By contrast Tidjane Thiam chosen in January as leader of the Parti démocratique de Côte d'Ivoire (PDCI) is beginning to entrench himself as a figure of weight and popularity in the national political landscape particularly with the crucial Baoulé electorate of the central regions (AC Vol 64 No 24 Will Tidjane Thiam's 'grand retour' succeed...

The PDCI sorted out its post-Bédié leadership problem by confirming on 24 January former banker Tidjane Thiam (61) as party leader...

Thiam understands this and has been nudging his traditionally right-leaning party more towards the slightly left-of-centre because that is where electoral gains can be made (AC Vol 64 No 24 Will Tidjane Thiam's 'grand retour' succeed...

In late 2023 he announced the end to his exile but did not return to Côte d'Ivoire instead travelling to the three junta-run Sahel states and heaped praises on Mali's leader Colonel Assimi Goïta for re-taking the former rebel fief of Kidal (AC Vol 64 No 24 Will Tidjane Thiam's 'grand retour' succeed...

Much will depend on his view if as expected the opposition Parti démocratique de la Côte d'Ivoire (PDCI) chooses the popular and respected Tidjane Thiam now returned home after a high-profile career in international finance as its candidate...

Will they nit-pick over the rules to shut out Tidjane Thiam who has returned home after more than two decades...

The much-admired expatriate Tidjane Thiam former Prudential and then Credit Suisse CEO is also seen by many as a potential leader of the country...

The finance summit has been prepared in close coordination with the African Union's special envoys for mobilising funds to tackle Covid-19 including: Tidjane Thiam the Ivorian former CEO of Credit Suisse bank; Rwandan economist and former head of the African Development Bank Donald Kaberuka; and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala head of the World Trade Organization...

Little came of ECA executive secretary Vera Songwe and AU special envoy Tidjane Thiam's call last year for a special structure backed by major international financial institutions to support African payments on outstanding sovereign bonds (Vol 61 No 9)...

The highly successful banker Tidjane Thiam liberal free-market oriented and widely expected to enter Ivorian politics would once have found a natural home in that party but if he gets involved it will very likely be in his own right...

However Vera Songwe executive secretary of the UN's Economic Commission for Africa and Tidjane Thiam former chief executive officer of Credit Suisse and an AU special envoy say the main point of their plan is to head off any risk of default by setting up a structure agreed by the main players in the market and backed by a triple-A rated international financial institution such as the International Monetary Fund or the World Bank or one of the bigger G-20 economies...

An alternative challenge to Gon could come from another fresh face with heft the recently resigned Crédit Suisse chief Tidjane Thiam who is rumoured to be contemplating a presidential run...