Converted into the private sector at the head of his company Parnasse International, Dominique Strauss-Kahn “DSK” has just completed a mission in Benin. In the economic capital Cotonou, the former CEO of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 2007 to 2011 attempted to obtain a mandate from the Beninese authorities for advice on debt management and financial governance. He notably spoke with Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni. DSK took advantage of this visit to meet with French Ambassador Marc Vizy. Benin is the umpteenth African country visited in recent months.
On the strength of his notoriety and his address book, the former great treasurer of France has found on the continent a new capacity to rebound since the end of his mission in Washington and his descent into hell following the affair of the Sofitel in New York. International consultant, he makes his business grow. He is particularly present in Congo-Brazzaville and Lomé where Presidents Denis Sassou Nguesso and Faure Gnassingbé have officially entrusted him with an advisory mission. Dominique Strauss-Kahn has known the Congolese head of state for a long time. Under his tenure as head of the IMF, he led bitter negotiations for the cancellation in 2010 of more than $ 2 billion in Congolese debt. He also intervened to allow Brazzaville to win a new agreement with the Bretton Woods institution in July 2019 by dealing with the thorny issue of Chinese debt. These negotiations were carried out in duo with businessman Mathieu Pigasse, his former collaborator at the French Ministry of Economy and Finance. The latter, then Deputy Managing Director of the Lazard bank before joining the American bank Centerview Partners, is the nephew of Jean-Paul Pigasse, founder of the Brazzaville dispatches and very close to the Congolese president.
DSK, who also serves as Faure Gnassingbé’s advisor on international monetary issues, has tried in recent months to approach many other French-speaking countries. After failing to convince the Senegalese authorities – he notably positioned himself on the Emerging Senegal Plan -, Malian and Burkinabè, he tried his hand at small capitals. In early 2021, he was in Guinea Bissau to offer financial packages to attract Chinese investors.
Owner of a riad in Marrakech, DSK is at the confluence of the Arab-African worlds. He remains very involved in Morocco where he advises companies and where he allowed the establishment of the Casablanca Finance City (CFC). He also frequents the Mauritanian intelligentsia including Mohamed Ould Bouamatou, founder of the diversified group Bouamatou SA (import-export, bank, etc.). This proximity could allow him to trace his way back to President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, a close friend of the influential businessman. In its activities, DSK relies on a handful of employees, including its former communications director Philippe Valachs when he was Minister of Industry and Trade. The latter is close to the Enarque Pierre-François Couture, boss of the Lysios company.
