The former CEO of Credit Suisse has given his first interview to Ivorian media since 1999 when a coup cost him his ministerial post. The financier boasts of his merits while serious accusations are being made against him in Switzerland.

Criticism simply bounces off Tidjane Thiam. The former CEO of the now-failed Credit Suisse prefers to find fault with others. And while the Swiss press is making serious accusations against the French-Ivorian manager these days, the former top banker is celebrating himself in a television interview in Africa.

Paying His Condolences

Thiam has been in the Ivorian capital Abidjan the past few days. Just over two weeks ago, former Ivory Coast President Henri Konan Bédié passed away at the age of 89. Thiam was a longtime associate of Bédié, working alongside the «Sphinx of Daoukro» from 1994 to 1998, and was a former Minister of Planning and Development under him. Thiam visited the grieving family and offered his condolences.

During his visit to Côte d'Ivoire, Thiam also gave his first interview with an Ivorian news outlet since 1999, when Robert Gueï's coup cost him his ministerial post. He spent a good hour defending his career and his positions on the NCI television station.

In the view of many Western observers, Bédié took over a stable country when he assumed office in 1993 but left behind a deeply fractured nation. With the Parti Démocratique de la Côte d'Ivoire - Rassemblement Démocratique Africain (PDCI-RDA), he led a party severely weakened by internal power struggles.

Thiam began by praising the stability and economic development that Bédié had brought to the country which opened up many opportunities for the younger generation. In doing so, he repeatedly praised himself for his achievements in Ivory Coast's public sector in the 1990s.

Profitable Credit Suisse Legacy

The controversial manager was asked about his time at Credit Suisse and its decline. He unsurprisingly gave himself a good report card and emphasized how he had managed to turn around a badly stricken major bank. He left behind a profitable company and had done a good job, even if he had not been able to complete it.

He did not want to comment on what happened after his time under his successors Thomas Gottstein and Ulrich Koerner.

Silence on Spygate

Thiam went on to emphasize what a difficult legacy was thrust upon him at Credit Suisse and what serious problems he had had to deal with. He said he was very proud of what he and his team had accomplished in cleaning up the legacy issues. Asked about the «Spygate» espionage affair, which cost Thiam his post at the bank in 2020, the former Credit Suisse boss was reticent, saying only that he did not want to comment further on the matter. He showed no sympathy for the lawsuit that shareholders in the US want to bring against him.

Thiam was not asked about his political ambitions. But according to French media, political observers already rank him among the favorites in the race to assume the mantle of Bédié.