Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

Ex-Credit Suisse boss recruited by Rwandan government

Tidjane Thiam
Thiam radically reshaped Credit Suisse Keystone

Tidjane Thiam, who resigned as CEO of Swiss bank Credit Suisse in February, has been tasked with using his connections to build up the Rwandan capital Kigali as an international business location, according to Swiss business newspaper Handelszeitung.

Ivory Coast-born Thiam, who also holds French citizenship, has been named president of Rwanda Finance Limited, a government company that is to set up the Kigali International Financial Centre (KIFC), said HandelszeitungExternal link, quoting pan-African weekly news magazine Jeune AfriqueExternal link. The appointment was signed by Prime Minister Édouard Ngirente at the end of a cabinet meeting chaired by President Paul Kagame on Wednesday.

The economy of authoritarian-ruled Rwanda suffered heavily in the wake of the 1994 genocide. The government now wants to turn the country into a “Singapore of Africa”, Handelszeitung reported.

More
Ndera psychiatric hospital in Rwanda

More

Scars of the genocide in Rwanda remain open

This content was published on Left in ruins at the end of the 1994 genocide, Rwanda’s only psychiatric hospital is now seen as a model. Specialists from Geneva helped to train the staff.

Read more: Scars of the genocide in Rwanda remain open

The plan is for Thiam, with his experience and broad network of contacts from his time in politics and at McKinsey, Prudential and Credit Suisse, to play a key role in this, it said.

Thiam, 58, resigned after losing the confidence of the Credit Suisse board following a spying scandal that seriously damaged the bank’s reputation. Major shareholders had pushed for him to stay. Thiam radically reshaped the bank since joining in July 2015, expanding its wealth management division while downsizing its volatile and capital-intensive trading arm.

More

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

No Swiss bank in phase with environmental objectives

More

Swiss banks failing environment, says WWF

This content was published on None of the 15 major Swiss retail banks is meeting international climate and biodiversity targets, according to a ranking by WWF Switzerland.

Read more: Swiss banks failing environment, says WWF
UNRWA provides emergency assistance to just over one million Palestine refugees, or about 75 per cent of all Palestine refugees in Gaza, who lack the financial means to cover their basic food.

More

Lazzarini: no alternative to UNRWA in Gaza

This content was published on The only alternative to the UN Palestinian agency’s work in Gaza is to allow Israel to run services there, Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA Commissioner-General, told reporters in Geneva on Monday.

Read more: Lazzarini: no alternative to UNRWA in Gaza

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR