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Tidjane Thiam

Executive Chairman, Freedom Acquisition I Corp, Freedom Acquisition

Search every verified Tidjane Thiam interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. In April 2024, Tidjane Thiam spoke in Casablanca about financing African growth, arguing that African economies suffer from a fundamental lack of equity capital. He stated that the insurance industry is the primary provider of equity capital through long-term savings, and criticized the tendency to rely on debt. Thiam cited the Nigerian fintech Paystack as an example of a startup that could not find local financing and was instead funded by Silicon Valley, later selling to Stripe for $250 million. He said that those best placed to invest in Africa are Africans, and praised Morocco's role in exporting capital and expertise to sub-Saharan Africa. In April 2026, Thiam delivered the opening remarks at the Inclusive Fintech Forum in Kigali, where he serves as Chairman of the Kigali International Financial Centre. He described inclusive finance as a central pillar of economic resilience and sovereignty, and said the forum is a platform where global investors, regulators, and innovators collaborate. He noted that artificial intelligence, digital currencies, open finance, and climate technologies are reshaping financial systems, and stated that Africa stands at the center of this transformation. Also in April 2026, Thiam, as president of the PDCI-RDA party in Côte d'Ivoire, spoke at the party's 80th anniversary celebration. He recalled the party's role in the country's post-independence development and its return to multiparty politics in the 1990s, and said that the party is a "party of openness" committed to peace and dialogue.

Recent appearances

Notable quotes

“Je crois que le Maroc joue ce rôle en Afrique. Quand on voit ce que le Maroc fait en Afrique sub-saharienne, c'est exactement ça. C'est bâtir sur ses forces, ses succès pour ensuite exporter du savoir-faire, du capital vers d'autres pays africains. Et je crois aussi que les les mieux placés pour investir en Afrique sont les Africains.”

“On ne peut pas avoir de de vrais développement sans investisseur institutionnel en monnaie locale. Il faut absolument et ça ce sont les compagnies d'assurance qui vont qui vont être les première. Il faut donc seulement encourager utiliser la phase de la démographie dans laquelle on est pour accumuler du capital. Il faut que les sociétés d'assurance soient positionné pour gérer ce capital et et d'investir dans dans l'”

“Les gens pensent que ce sont les banques qui qui financent l'économie, il financissement. Absolument pas. Les banques ont des contraintes en capital qui font qu'elles peuvent prêter un peu mais elles ne vont jamais jamais financer la croissance à long terme. Et donc dans les économies africaines, c'est un che non manquant dans le système.”

“Je crois que un des problèmes des économies africaines, c'est que elle manque d'equity. Vraiment, il y a un fondamental, un manque fondamental d'equity et je on dit fond propre en français mais c'est pas la même chose. C'est vraiment l'opposé de la dette. Et je je crois que le premier fournisseur de d'Equity Capital dans toutes les économie que je connais en fait, c'est l'industrie de l'assurance euh à travers l'épar”

“President Bédié thought a unified party would guarantee stability and lasting peace for our country, leading to the creation of RHDP, the Rally of Houphouëtists for Democracy and Peace. Unfortunately, this vision did not bear the fruits we could have expected.”

“From 1960 to the 1980s, our party—a breeding ground of competent cadres united around President Houphouët-Boigny—offered Côte d'Ivoire an economy and society with performances never equalled on our continent: a professional and impartial administration, an equitable civil service, a dynamic private sector creating sustainable jobs, and advanced social policies fostering legendary stability.”

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