Former Credit score Suisse boss Tidjane Thiam is to run for president in Ivory Coast’s forthcoming election, his celebration has confirmed.
Thiam, 62, was the one candidate vying to signify the nation’s major opposition celebration, the PDCI.
Thiam has spent the final twenty years dwelling overseas, and had to surrender his French citizenship to have the ability to stand within the presidential election.
The previous minister has held senior positions in main worldwide companies like Aviva, Prudential and Credit score Suisse, although he resigned from the latter following a spying scandal.
Political scientist Geoffroy Kouao advised the AFP information company that Thiam was not “well-known to Ivorians,” after spending greater than 20 years overseas pursuing his enterprise profession, and so must run a powerful marketing campaign to be able to win October’s election.
The governing RHDP celebration has not but introduced its candidate, however the present president, 83-year-old Alassane Ouattara, is more likely to run for what can be a fourth time period in workplace.
Three different distinguished figures, together with former President Laurent Gbagbo, have been barred from working.
Thiam has had one thing of a chequered skilled life.
After changing into the primary Ivorian to cross the doorway examination to France’s prestigious Polytechnique engineering faculty, he returned to Ivory Coast and took up politics.
In 1998, aged 36, he grew to become planning minister earlier than the PDCI was ousted from energy in a coup the next 12 months.
He then moved overseas and pursued a largely profitable enterprise profession.
In 2009, he grew to become the primary black particular person to go an organization on the UK’s FTSE 100 inventory trade when he was named CEO of the Prudential insurance coverage firm.
Nevertheless, he was later censured by a monetary regulator for not being open a few deliberate takeover.
After 5 years as the top of the Swiss financial institution Credit score Suisse, he was pressured to resign in 2020 over a spying scandal, though he has been cleared of any involvement.
He’s effectively related in West African political circles – he’s the great-nephew of Ivory Coast’s first President Félix Houphouët-Boigny, whereas his uncle Habib Thiam was a primary minister in Senegal, on two events, spanning a complete of 9 years.
Nevertheless, Thiam faces a authorized problem to his candidacy as a result of he had taken up French nationality.
The courts are anticipated to rule on this subsequent Thursday.
Extra BBC tales about Ivory Coast:
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