Jury member
THIABA CAMARA SY
Investor and company director
SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
THIABA CAMARA SY
During a rich career spanning 33 years in auditing, accounting and management consulting, Thiaba has served numerous public institutions and private companies in virtually every sector of the West African economy, which has enabled her to develop a strong international professional network over the years.
For 27 years, she was the head of Deloitte Senegal, the consulting, accounting and auditing firm she founded in 1990;
Served for 8 years (2009 to 2017) on the Board of Directors of Deloitte Afrique, the holding company for all Deloitte member firms in French-speaking Africa (Maghreb, West Africa and Central Africa);
She then briefly joined the partnership of Afig Funds, a leading African private equity firm, where she was Chief Operating Officer in 2017 and 2018.
Thiaba is co-founder, chair of the board of directors and chair of the investment committee of WIC CAPITAL, the first impact fund dedicated to supporting women entrepreneurs in West Africa. The fund, which aims to connect women entrepreneurs with modern financial instruments and promote women's leadership and skills (through the WIC Academy), is carried by the Women's Investment Club (WIC Senegal), which Thiaba created with three other co-founders in 2016 and which currently has 99 members.
Thiaba also serves as a non-executive director on the boards of leading Senegalese and subregional companies.
As Senior Resident Advisor, Thiaba oversaw the Mastercard Foundation's development programmes as part of the Young Africa Works strategy, which aims to create 30 million jobs in Africa for young people, 70% of which will be for young African women, by 2030.
Thiaba is also very much involved in the not-for-profit sector and her CSR actions have always been directed towards the defence of women's and children's rights. She sits on the board and chairs the audit committee of TOSTAN International, an American humanitarian NGO active in six West African countries.
Thiaba is a graduate of the École Supérieure de Commerce de Paris (ESCP). She is a chartered accountant and has served on the board of the National Order of Chartered Accountants of Senegal (ONECCA), where she was Secretary General and President of the National Quality Assurance Committee.
She also holds a Professional Coach diploma registered in France in the National Directory of Professional Certifications and supports young female business leaders, through coaching, mentoring and consulting, to help them develop their potential and improve their management performance.