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Abdoulaye Diao was once born in Thies, 70 kilometres east of Dakar. Abdoulaye’s father labored as a railwayman to deal with 8 youngsters, together with him. Of the 8 youngsters, he was once the one one who attended college as a result of he proved to be good at an excessively younger age.
He got a scholarship to check at elite engineering faculties in France. He first took a preparatory elegance in maths-sup at Lycée Louis-le-Grand, then the Ecole Centrale and the French Petroleum Institute.
Upon his go back to Senegal, he was once employed as an adviser to the Ministry of Power. He was once instrumental within the drafting of texts governing Senegal Petroleum Corporate (Petrosen) and oil analysis and exploration. Alternatively, as soon as his contract expired, he walked away to start out his personal project.
He introduced himself into the arena of commodity buying and selling after associating with Cheikh Fall (the primary CEO of the airline Air Afrique). Diao is alleged to were influenced by way of Fall to start out his personal enterprise.
This led him to determine Senegal’s first hydrocarbon buying and selling corporate, Global Buying and selling Oil and Commodities (ITOC). In line with Forbes, ITOC trades in crude oil in addition to fuel, LPG and jet gas. In 2018, the platform reported that the corporate generates annual revenues of no longer lower than $600 million.
A lot of Diao’s fortune got here from ITCO as he grew the corporate to develop into Senegal’s greatest oil importer. Alternatively, in recent years, he has different into agro-industry and banking. He reportedly nurtured the ambition to possess a financial institution for approximately 4 years.
Previous to launching his financial institution, the {industry} was once virtually solely ruled by way of foreigners, principally from North Africa and France. In 2018, he introduced Outarde Financial institution (LBO), whose title and emblem are impressed by way of the bustard, which is outarde in French. Based in Dakar’s bustling Plateau enterprise district, the financial institution is Senegal’s first nationwide non-public capital financial institution. The financial institution started operations in January 2018 with a personal Senegalese shareholding of 84.5%. Diao, who chairs the board of administrators, owns 59%, consistent with swissinfo.ch.
These days, the financial institution has virtually 1,000 purchasers, with 80% of its purchasers being companies, from micro-business to very large companies. Its center of attention is on power and agriculture.
Diao stays some of the revered and influential figures in Senegal no longer simplest as a enterprise chief but in addition as an ethical chief. He’s additionally a philanthropist. These days, the septuagenarian serves as particular recommend to Senegal’s president, Macky Sall.
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