Bollore’s West African port contracts investigated
The Bollore Group’s head office was searched by French officials as part of an investigation into the company’s port-operating contracts at two West African nations.
It is investigating whether Bollore’s public relations subsidiary Havas offered services to the leaders of Guinea and Togo. This was in order to help it secure contracts to operate two terminals; Lome Port in 2010 and Conkary in 2011.
A Bollore statement, released on April 12, 2016 denied the allegations and announced it was only a minority shareholder in Havas.
It stated: “With respect to its port activities, Bolloré Group would like to stress that these are considerable investments, carried out in partnership with other large international groups.”
“They represent commitments extending over many tens of years and for which they are selected, exclusively, according to the amount and technical qualities of the investments.”
Bollore currently operated 14 container terminals in Africa.
Source: Port Strategy
