Speaker

Jean-Kacou DIAGOU

Founder & Vice-President - NSIA

With an Ivorian nationality, born in Abidjan (Cote d’Ivoire) in 1948, Jean-Kacou Diagou is the founder and actual Vice-President of the first Ivorian insurance group, NSIA as well as of its holding, NSIA PARTICIPATIONS.

After a secondary school diploma in philosophy and a master’s degree in economics at the Felix Houphouet Boigny University of Abidjan and a degree of insurance in terms of legal and economic matters at CNAM-Paris (France), he started a career in the insurance industry until becoming Chief Executive Officer of AXA Assurances for Africa.

In 1995, after participating in negotiations on the harmonization of legislations on insurances in the sub-region and co-writing the CIMA code (Inter African conference of insurance markets), he felt that there was room for a 100% African and transnational operator in the insurance industry. That is when he founded the New Inter African Insurance Company, NSIA, which is today strong of 19 subsidiaries and located in 12 countries of the sub-continent.

In 2006, he led negotiations that led to the acquisition of BIAO, the oldest bank in Côte d’Ivoire, by his group NSIA, thus positioning the group as a precursor of insurance banking in Africa. Since this acquisition and the reorganization of the bank, BIAO also located in the whole sub-region, climbed to the 3rd rank of the Ivorian banking sector.

Since 2005, Jean-Kacou Diagou is at the head of CGECI (General Confederation of Ivorian Companies), the Ivorian Federation of employers. After making two successive terms, he was just re-elected for a year, in September 2013, at the presidency of the organization. He is also the President of the Federation of West African employers since September 2010.

Married, father of 5 children, Jean-Kacou Diagou, is Commander of the Ivorian Merit Order and Officer of the National Order of Côte d’Ivoire. Religious music passionate, he is also a writer and composer.