Tidjane Thiam 1994 to 1999 he worked in the Ivory Coast first as chief executive of the National Bureau for Technical Studies (BNETD). Following the 1999 Ivorian coup d'état, he resumed a private sector career and rejoined McKinsey in Paris from 2000 to 2002, then worked as a senior executive for Aviva before being recruited by Prudential. Thiam was born in the Ivory Coast (Cote d'Ivoire) on 29 July 1962. He is a descendant of two prominent families from Senegal and Ivory Coast. On his mother’s side, he is a descendant of Yamousso, after whom the capital of Côte d'Ivoire, Yamoussoukro, is
Awa Thiam first groups of black feminists in France. Having gained multiple degrees overseas, Thiam returned to Senegal, and became Assistant Professor of Research at the Fundamental Institute of Black Africa at Cheihk Anta Diop University of Dakar. In 1987, Thiam petitioned the institution to build a Department of Anthropology of the Sexes, but her idea was ultimately rejected by the administration. In pursuit of improving the lives and status of African women, Thiam was a founding member of the Commission of the Abolition of Sexual Mutilation (also known as CAMS or Commission pour l'Abolition des Mutilations Sexuelles, in French), which was