French tycoon Vincent Bolloré to stand trial in ‘African ports’ corruption case

French industrialist Vincent Bolloré will stand trial in December before the Paris criminal court in the so‑called “African ports” case.

He is prosecuted for alleged corruption of foreign public officials and aiding and abetting breach of trust, linked to the 2010 presidential campaigns in Togo and Guinea. Investigators suspect that subsidiaries of the Bolloré group provided under‑priced communication services to the campaigns of Faure Gnassingbé and Alpha Condé.

In return, the group is alleged to have secured control of two strategic ports: Lomé in Togo and Conakry in Guinea.

A collective made up of non-governmental organisations in Togo, Guinea, Ghana, the Ivory Coast and Cameroon, called "Restitution for Africa," is accusing the Bollore Group, Bollore and his son of unlawfully receiving favours to run ports, then "laundering" money in those countries through the sale of its Africa logistics business.

The investigation was opened in 2013 and, in 2018, led to the indictment of Bolloré and two senior executives of his then‑subsidiary, Euro RSCG, now Havas. In 2021, Bolloré admitted the facts in a guilty‑plea procedure and accepted a 375,000‑euro fine, but the Paris court refused the deal, paving the way for this full trial.

Bollore Group's African ports and logistics business, which the tycoon sold off in 2022, employed more than 20,000 people in 20 African countries, running 16 ports as well as warehouses and transport hubs across the continent.

Cyrille Bollore, his youngest son, became head of Bollore Africa Logistics in 2019, succeeding his father.

Additional sources • AP