Nadine Tinen has been named Regional Senior Partner of PwC Sub-Saharan Francophone Africa (www.PwC.com), thus also joining the Territory Leadership Team for PwC France & Francophone Africa. Appointed on 1 July 2017, she takes over from Edouard Messou.

Nadine Tinen, 45, is a graduate of the University of Bourgogne (Dijon), where she earned a DESS postgraduate diploma in tax law, a Magistère specialised postgraduate diploma in corporate law, tax and accounting and an international diploma in European tax law (Diplôme International de Droit Fiscal Européen). Specialising in tax, Nadine has become well-known over her 20 years in the field for her expert advice to businesses.

Nadine began her career in 1996 at PwC Cameroon and was admitted as a partner 10 years later. In 2010, she took over the Firm’s Cameroon practice and, in 2014, joined the Leadership Team for PwC Sub-Saharan Francophone Africa as Tax & Legal Leader, responsible for legal and tax advisory services.

Nadine is also a CEMAC-certified tax lawyer (Conseil Fiscal Agréé CEMAC) and a member of the Cameroon Association of Tax Lawyers (Ordre National des Conseils Fiscaux).

“Africa is a continent on the move, with an important role to play in the future of global affairs. In 2050, Africa will represent 12% of global wealth. Demographic, economic and social change is underway on the continent, and it’s happening now. This is why we need to work with the stakeholders in African development – spanning society, local communities and national, pan-African and even international businesses – to help them carry out their projects, from the initial strategy phase right up to completion. We believe that helping these stakeholders grow will allow us to contribute toward the development and promotion of Africa as a whole,” said Nadine Tinen.

With a view to dealing with the three major challenges that have been identified for the next five years – a Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous (VUCA) political, economic and social environment, technological developments and the growth of the regional economy, Nadine Tinen has set herself four strategic objectives:

• To drive PwC’s transformation in Sub-Saharan Francophone Africa in a bid to improve support for clients with their own transformations, which are chiefly digital but may also be cultural. This process will involve introducing new innovative and collaborative tools, solutions, concepts and methodologies.

• To develop the Firm’s Advisory services for businesses and public authorities in the region, with two ambitions:
  • Working with the governments of the region on their economic diversification programmes and large-scale projects for transforming and enhancing performance and competitivity;
  • Working with businesses, regional champions and start-ups with high growth potential with a view to their becoming the future leaders of the region.
• To boost PwC’s employer brand in Sub-Saharan Francophone Africa, in two ways:
• Implementing policies that promote employee well-being and real opportunities for career development;
• Fostering the development of future talents in the region via the creation of a “PwC Academy”. 
• To develop synergies between PwC offices in Africa as a means of meeting the needs and expectations of both the public and private sector.

PwC reported revenue of nearly €50 million between 1 July 2016 and 30 June 2017 in the Sub-Saharan Francophone Africa region. By meeting her four strategic objectives, Nadine Tinen intends to grow the Firm’s revenue in the region by more than 40% by 2022.

The investments made to achieve this ambitious growth will focus on human capital, innovation and technology and developing synergies. Accordingly, the total headcount of PwC offices in Sub-Saharan Francophone Africa is set to climb by 20% over the next five years, growing from over 700 employees today to close to 900 in 2022. Further, there are plans to promote 12 partners over the same period, growing the partnership from 28 members to 40 over five years. The transformation has already begun: three new partners were appointed as of 1 July 2017 (see appendix for their biographies).

“In addition to setting ambitious financial and business objectives, I will make diversity the focus of my term as Regional Senior Partner. I will continue to take positive action to support the advancement of women in business and in African society as a whole. At PwC, we believe in rewarding excellence regardless of gender and in encouraging individual career plans that allow our employees to achieve a healthy work/life balance,” added Nadine Tinen. 

Nadine Tinen introduces her new management team

Nadine Tinen has brought together a new management team to take charge of the development of PwC’s business in the Sub-Saharan Francophone Africa region and help achieve the objectives set for the next five years.

The partners on the new management team are:

• Souleymane Coulibaly Soro, Assurance Leader
• Laurent Pommera, Tax & Legal Leader
• Georges-Louis Levard, Advisory Coordination Leader
• Didier Nguessan, Human Capital Leader

Souleymane Coulibaly Soro, 50, a certified accountant admitted to the Association of Certified Accountants (Ordre des Experts-Comptables) in Côte d'Ivoire, is a graduate of the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce d'Abidjan.

He joined PwC in Côte d’Ivoire in 1991. After being promoted to the partnership in 2008, he was selected to lead the Côte d’Ivoire office in 2013 and joined the PwC Sub-Saharan Francophone Africa Leadership Team the following year as Assurance Leader. His role in Nadine Tinen’s new team will be to develop and adapt the Firm’s audit services to the new challenges faced by the public and private sectors in the Sub-Saharan Francophone Africa region.

Laurent Pommera, 42, is a graduate of the University of Rennes, where he earned a DESS in corporate law combined with a DJCE (specialised diploma for in-house legal counsel) and a master’s degree in French and UK corporate law. He also holds a postgraduate diploma (DEA) in private international law and international business law from the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. He is a qualified French attorney (avocat) and former member of the Paris Bar.

Laurent began his career at PwC Gabon in 1998 before moving back to France in 2003 to join the corporate litigation practice at Paris law firm D’Armagnac Société d’Avocat. At the end of 2007, he returned to Gabon and was promoted to the partnership two years later. He is now joining the PwC Sub-Saharan Francophone Africa Leadership Team as Tax & Legal Leader. His role will be to oversee the implementation of PwC’s Tax & Legal strategy in Francophone Africa, by promoting innovation and the development of human capital and tools, all with a view to achieving client satisfaction in a rapidly changing Africa.

Georges-Louis Levard, 44, holds a Diplom Kaufmann (German diploma in business administration) from ESCP-EAP and is also a graduate of Sciences Po in Paris.

He joined PwC France in 2001 after working within the corporate restructuring department at BHF-Bank in Frankfurt and at KPMG in Paris.

Georges-Louis specialises in financial audit services for the banking sector and, since 2005, has worked in Gabon, Luxembourg and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). He was promoted to the partnership in 2011 and is now based in Kinshasa. He joined the PwC Sub-Saharan Francophone Africa Leadership Team in 2015. As Advisory Coordination Leader, his main role will be to promote synergies and the development of advisory services in Sub-Saharan Francophone Africa, in coordination with the France and Francophone Africa Advisory teams.

Didier N’Guessan, 44, a French certified accountant (Expert-Comptable diplômé de l’Etat français), is a graduate of the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce d’Abidjan (ESCA) and holds a certificate in public financial management from Harvard University (John F. Kennedy School of Government). He is a knight of the National Order of Merit in Côte d’Ivoire and a member of the ethics committee of the Association of Certified Accountants (Ordre des Experts comptables) of Côte d’Ivoire.

Didier has 22 years of experience at PwC in France, the Netherlands and Africa, during which time he has led numerous audit and advisory engagements in various business sectors. Admitted as a partner in 2010, he was appointed PwC Assurance Learning & Education Leader for Sub-Saharan Francophone Africa in 2014. As part of the new management team for the region, he will be coordinating human resources and corporate culture, with the goal of delivering on the Firm’s commitment to playing an active role in the development of the African continent by building human capital.

APPENDIX: Biographies of partners promoted as of 1 July 2017 in Sub-Saharan Francophone Africa

Mahi Kane, 39, holds a master’s degree in tax and corporate law from INSEEC Paris. Specialising in tax, he is a certified member of the Senegalese National Association of Experts (Ordre national des experts).

After completing an internship of nearly two years in the tax department of LVMH in Paris and a further six‑month placement in the Paris office of Landwell et Associés (now PwC Société d’Avocats), he joined PwC Sénégal in 2005.

In Dakar, Mahi has worked on numerous engagements for transport and logistics businesses. He has over twelve years of experience in Francophone Africa, during which time he has developed expertise in telecommunications, oil and gas and banking, all of which are growth sectors on the continent.

In his new role as a partner, Mahi aims to boost the development of tax and legal advisory services at PwC Sénégal, with a particular focus on the oil and gas industry.

Fousseni Traore, 51, holds a master’s degree in political science from the University of Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire.

He joined PwC Côte d’Ivoire out of university in 1999, as a junior associate in the tax and legal department in Abidjan. He advises on various fields, spanning tax audit support and due diligence, employment law and customs. Appointed as a director in 2007, he has developed expertise in a range of business sectors, with a focus on services, mining and agrifood.

As a new partner, Fousseni will be responsible for expanding the Firm’s tax and legal advisory services for local SMEs and customs support services in Côte d’Ivoire.

Ghislaine Djapouop, 43, holds an MBA in corporate strategy and finance from INSEAD in Singapore.

She began her career in Cameroon in 1998 as accountant and treasurer for the company Sotrav. Subsequently, she worked for two years as administration and finance manager at Colgate Palmolive and the CTM (Cellule Technique pour l’Amélioration de la Gestion des Finances Publiques – technical unit for improving governance in the public finance sector), after which she left Cameroon to continue her studies, obtaining two MBAs from CESAG and INSEAD respectively. She entered the world of consulting in South Africa in 2005 when she worked as a strategy consultant at Decipher Consulting and later at Gemini Consulting.

In 2008, she joined the Advisory team at PwC Gabon, before moving to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where she was appointed director in 2014. She advises on improving the business environment and public sector reform.

In her role as a new partner, Ghislaine will be responsible for developing PwC’s business in Sub-Saharan Francophone Africa with international lenders, with a focus on large-scale, multi-year structuring projects.