Astou is an entrepreneur with 17 years of experience in strategy and management consulting in Europe and Africa. She started her career in Senegal in 2007 at Performances Group before returning to France in 2008. She worked in management consulting for European banking institutions and in strategy consulting for multinationals and investment funds. In 2014, she returned to Senegal and joined the Dalberg Group in 2015 where she spent nearly 5 years and was notably entrusted with the opening and management of the Ivory Coast office in 2017. She worked with private companies, governments, communities, and donors in areas such as governance and operational efficiency, agriculture and food security, health, youth employment, access to finance, and economic empowerment of women. Astou decided to materialize her entrepreneurial project and founded A to A Partners, a company specializing in business coaching for entrepreneurs and SMEs, with the aim of supporting them in their growth and transformation projects through long-term strategic and operational support. Astou is also a co-founder of Impact Hub Abidjan, an incubator and accelerator for start-ups based in Abidjan. Besides that, Astou takes an active part in the establishment of Investment Clubs (WIC Senegal and WIC Ivory Coast) and the Investment Fund (WIC Capital) aimed at improving access to finance for women-led SMEs. As an active member of the club, she holds the position of Secretary General and leads the pre and post-investment support activities for entrepreneurs through the WIC Academy.