Tidjane Thiam, a French national who was forced to flee a coup in the Ivory Coast less than 10 years ago, was on Thursday named chief executive of Prudential in a move heralded as the first appointment of a black chief executive by a FTSE 100 company.

Mr Thiam, currently finance director of Prudential, succeeds Mark Tucker, who is stepping down after four years as chief executive of the life assurer.