Vincent Bolloré is set to face trial in December at the Paris Criminal Court over allegations of corruption linked to strategic African ports. The case, widely known as the “African ports” affair, involves accusations of bribing foreign public officials and aiding breach of trust during the 2010 presidential campaigns in Togo and Guinea.
Investigators claim that subsidiaries of the Bolloré Group provided underpriced communication services to the campaigns of Faure Gnassingbé and Alpha Condé. In return, Bolloré’s group allegedly secured control over two key ports: Lomé in Togo and Conakry in Guinea.
A coalition of NGOs across Togo, Guinea, Ghana, Ivory Coast, and Cameroon, called “Restitution for Africa,” accuses Bolloré, his son, and the group of unlawfully benefiting from port operations and allegedly laundering money through the sale of Bolloré’s African logistics business.
The investigation began in 2013, leading to indictments in 2018 of Bolloré and two executives from Euro RSCG (now Havas). In 2021, Bolloré admitted to certain facts in a guilty plea and accepted a €375,000 fine, but the Paris court rejected the deal, clearing the path for a full trial.
Bolloré’s African logistics operations, sold in 2022, spanned 20 African countries, managing 16 ports and numerous transport hubs, and employed over 20,000 people. His youngest son, Cyrille Bolloré, has led Bolloré Africa Logistics since 2019.
