The financial adventure of thirty-six years has culminated in a cheque of EUR 5.7 billion for the prestigious French billionaire Vincent Bolloré. Bolloré Africa Logistics has separated from business by selling its ports, railways, channels, warehouses, industrial logistics and terminal highways in Africa to the Italian-Swiss company Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC). The fourteen richest people in France – 538. in the world – this continent owes much: "Most of the wealth of the Bolloré group comes from Africa. For twenty years, Vincent Bolloré has built a kingdom in the remains of the French colonial empire", we can read the Comment Vincent Bolloré s'est taillé an empire in Afrique (How Vincent Bolloré has built an empire in Africa) from the Mediapartat medium.

In particular, the company is present in some twenty African States through 250 subsidiaries: Gina, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Togon, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Christmas, Congo and Comores; 1.8 km terminals for Nigeria In terms of offices and warehouses, it has a total of 7.5 million square meters above Africa. Through other activities and companies, in 46 of the 55 states of the continent the French millennial hand is attached.

In 1986 it acquired the Scac companies, specialized in maritime transport and oil distribution, and Socopao, a company of African ports, which had been the first in the long list, raised during colonialism. It must be pointed out that the logic of privatization imposed on this continent in the 1990s by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund largely served the hunger of Bolloré. Cocoa, palm oil, coffee, cotton, minerals, wood... has among its hands many primary sector productions, and thanks to the management of transport and especially ports, it is easier to export.

With the disaggregation agreement signed on 31 March, we will look more closely at this presence. "Bolloré manages 16 ports and 20 maritime terminals. A highly profitable activity, knowing that 92% of African imports and exports are channelled by sea. Port control implies trade control in Africa", can the Franco-Afrique de Le Media listen: les réseaux Macron rare -ils eu la peau de Bolloré? ("Françafrique: Is Macron's network finished Bolloré?") documentary. But why did you want to sell an activity that was rich – a profit of EUR 2 billion in 2021, when that of the Bolloré group as a whole was EUR 24 billion –?

The term Françafrique refers to the hidden diplomatic and economic relations that France maintains with its former African colonies, a notion that we can use as a synonym of neocolonialism. The Bolloré group has been part of this logic for a long time, and has even been located in the former French colonies and also in those of England. "Recital Vincent Bolloré intended for many African presidents to receive a leader with the hearing of the President of the French Republic", can be read in the article Le groupe Bolloré pull a trait sur l'Afrique ("From the African continent the Bolloré group"). The same applies to the Parisian authorities: "For Nicolas Sarkozy, also for his own, it was the only access to the continent: he knew men, networks and financial circuits."

In other words, without going through official calls, Bolloré has received many ports, railways or terminal motorways. The response of the company’s director in 2008, Gilles Alix, to the daily Libération, explained the environment: "The ministers, there we all know, are friends. Therefore, in the arts, which are no more ministers, we offer them the possibility of being managers of our subsidiaries to clean up their appearance. And we know that one day they can become ministers again..."

But there seems to be someone in the French Government who shadows him: Elíseo Secretary General Alexis Kohler. In addition to this political position, MSC, a rival in African businesses, has been denied – fundamentally, the anti-corruption association Anticor, in 2018, against Kohle, in the framework of relations with MSCrekila, accused of "illegal interest", "influence trafficking" and "passive corruption". Alta, offering a larger check than I expected, sells Bolloré Africa Logistics...

Corruption cases

Corruption cases have been several for three decades. The last and most detailed case will soon be judged by an open case since 2013, by "deterioration of the sovereignty" of states and by "disturbance of public and economic order". However, he acknowledged the guilt and agreed to pay a fine of EUR 12 million to prevent trial, which the judge did not accept in February last year for "the seriousness of the defendant". In particular, the former President of Guinea, Alpha Condé, and the President of Togo, Faure Gnassingbé, forced them to pay less for consultancy and communication services in order to obtain, in return, the efforts of the ports of Conakry and Lomé. Bolloré risks his sentence to five years in prison.

To mention two more, Burkina Faso also has the company in court, accused of illegally transporting gold in 2018, a fraud of €500 million. Since October 2020, the Public Finance Ministry is also investigating the conditions for acquiring the Kripi port terminal in Cameroon.

It has lost some issues in the past, and as a result some businesses: The judge annulled the contract for the reconstruction of the railway line of the Cotonou Boli Costa de Benin to Abidjan, after official execution of the offer to the winning company in the call. Everything is diverse and we want to differentiate ourselves from this shadow between the reasons for the company’s sale, which has had multiple protests and campaigns against it for environmental damage or for violations of workers’ rights. Of course, although it is powerful, it has other powerful in the African market, especially the Chinese and the emirates, and it is increasingly being imposed with more difficulty. That's another reason.

However, it still has media control.

However, Bolloré is determined to continue investing in the media sector in Africa. To mention three, it currently has the Canal+, MultiChoise and Havas companies present on the continent. The latter acts as a communications advisor and channels the campaigns of candidates for the presidencies of the African states, also charged with corruption. Canal+ is a leader in the African pay-TV and MultiChoise sector on English-speaking television.

In the Northern Basque Country and more in the French State, we know something about media ownership in Bolloré. As part of the judicial inquiry, the rapporteur David Assouline took six minutes to list all the media in Bolloré in France. This investment involves, in addition to money, control of ideas and reflection. Of course, that's Africa's goal. The Françafrique spirit is not about to disappear...