Ex-Credit Suisse CEO Thiam Lays Out Plan for Ivory Coast Top Job

Baudelaire Mieu
·2 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- Former Credit Suisse chief Tidjane Thiam, who took office as leader of Ivory Coast’s main opposition party Wednesday, has mapped out the party’s strategy to return to power in the 2025 elections after 26 years in the wilderness.

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The 61-year old former banker said he will strengthen internal democracy in the Democratic Party of Ivory Coast to promote inclusive decision-making and discipline, and will lead the party to “all the nooks and crannies” of the country to carry its message.

Thiam convincingly defeated his sole opponent and party veteran Jean-Marc Yace, the current mayor of Abidjan’s Cocody neighborhood, last month to become president of the PDCI, the French acronym of the party.

Thiam’s victory, which puts him in a strong position to represent PDCI in next year’s polls, must now help the party to prepare for the elections, including organizing an internal congress later this year to choose the flagbearer.

“It is for us to continue the work of our illustrious predecessors and to continue to make the PDCI a united, conquering party,” Thiam said in a speech Wednesday at his inauguration ceremony.

The PDCI ruled the West African nation after independence in 1960 but has been out of power since a 1999 coup. A new leader was needed after the death in August of Henri Konan Bédié, who headed the PDCI for three decades.

Open Contest

Thiam held posts in President Bédié’s administration between 1994 and 1999, leading the National Bureau for Technical Studies and Development and also becoming Minister of Planning and Development.

He left the country after the 1999 putsch, launching a two-decade career abroad, including positions at Aviva Plc, Prudential Plc and at Credit Suisse, where he became the first Black executive to lead a European bank.

At the moment the 2025 contest is open. The two other men who’ve dominated Ivorian politics since 1995 — President Alassane Ouattara, 82, and his predecessor and rival, Laurent Gbagbo, 78, are unlikely to run. Ouattara is finishing his third term. Gbagbo, who was stripped of his civic rights despite receiving a state pardon, has said he would only run if he’s pushed to.

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