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
Tidjane Thiam whilst Thiam was abroad, the Ivorian military seized control of the government. Thiam returned to the country, where he was arrested and held for several weeks. General Guéï, the new head of state, offered him the position of chief of staff, but he declined and left the country in early 2000. On returning to Europe, Thiam was offered a partnership by McKinsey in Paris, becoming one of the leaders of the company's financial institutions practice. In 2002 he joined Aviva, initially as group strategy and development director, then as managing director of Aviva International, chief executive of Aviva Europe and