#353 Fatou Sagna Sow: From French Banking to Building Africa’s Next Generation
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Why did Fatou Sagna Sow leave a successful banking career in France?
Hi, everyone. Welcome to our show, Chief Change Officer. I'm Vince Chen, your ambitious human host. Our show is a modernist humility for change progressives in organizational and human transformation from around the world. Imagine this, you are in Paris, the city of lights, where you were born and raised. Picture yourself as a highly skilled in-house counsel at one of the world's largest banking groups, overseeing a team of 50 and spearheading billion-dollar financial transactions. Life isn't just good. It's picture perfect. Now, what if I challenged you to leave it all behind? What if I invited you to move with your whole family to Senegal, a vibrant country in West Africa, once a French colony, to start afresh? Would you take the leap? For many, the answer would be a no. But today's guest isn't just anyone.
Join me as I chat with Fatou Zegna So, a remarkable individual I had the pleasure of studying together during our executive MBA classes in London and in Singapore with Chicago Booth. She has since moved from the well-established legal profession to economic development, technical advisory and youth entrepreneurship in Senegal. In her own words, she aims not just to succeed, but to create magic. What drives a person to embrace such profound change? How does a lawyer used to practicing set laws becoming a chief change officer, making her own laws of change for careers, for communities, and for societies? Fatou is going to tell her own story.
Hi, Vince. Thank you so much for having me. It's good to talk to you again. Thank you.
I'm so glad you agreed to come on board. Well, it's been how many years? Last time I saw you in Singapore, is that right?
Well, last time I saw you, Vince, actually, it was in Singapore. It was in 2013. So indeed, long, long time. At this time, I was a financial lawyer at a bank in Paris. And I was also a municipality council of a small town in France, finishing my six-year terms as a municipality council. So a long, long time in it. As a background, as you know, I'm a financial lawyer. I studied law. I always wanted to study law because law is the way you manage people to live together in a city. And I always wanted to know the rules and be able to be part of the law makers and policy makers. I studied law, of course, but I really wanted to be an economic lawyer. So I studied business law. I took a finance course as well. I also studied IT.
I started to work as a financial lawyer in different law firms in France, in Paris. Very exciting, both French and U.S. law firms. Very exciting. And then I moved to France. to bank industry. I first started working at the central industrial of Paris in the BNP Paribas Bank as a financial lawyer. And then I moved to Soussacgène, which is the second major bank in France. This is where I spent most of my career in Société Générale Bank in Paris. And before I leave, I decided to make the big change you mentioned earlier. I was born in Paris. I grew up there. I studied there. I started working there. My family is still there. My twins were born in Paris. So I decided to quit this environment I've always known to start a new adventure in Africa and specifically in Senegal, which is my own country as well.
Yeah. So you moved from where you were born and raised Back to your root, your origin in Africa. Now, before we go deep into the Africa situation, what actually moved you to take this leap of faith from legal profession in banking back to your root? There must be a lot of thought going on, a lot of debate, perhaps, in your mind and among your family members. What happened then?
What motivated Fatou to embrace her roots in Senegal?
I was born in Paris, but I have two cultures. I think this is a chance. Having two citizenship is a chance. So I only had the occasion to experience my friend's citizenship, and I did it fully. But I felt it was like calling me because I knew there was this challenging country for me. I used to go in Senegal very often, but it was for vacation. Coming here on vacation, you don't get to know the real country as I know it now from the inside. I was very successful professionally speaking in France. Working in a bank, a great position, making good money. My kids were fine. Everything was okay, but I felt like I was not challenging myself enough.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
Why did Fatou Sagna Sow leave a successful banking career in France?
0:13–5:49
2
What motivated Fatou to embrace her roots in Senegal?
5:49–13:10
3
How did motherhood influence Fatou's career choices?
13:10–19:46
4
What challenges did Fatou face in Senegal's political landscape?
19:46–30:02
5
What is the Luna Na Project and its impact on communities?
30:02–33:28
6
How is Fatou connecting young Africans with global opportunities?
33:28–33:53
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from Chief Change Officer™: Ensemble
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