Although economically settled since the sale in 2022 of his company's activities to the Swiss group MSC for €5.7 billion, Vincent Bolloré's African affairs are still far from being judicially settled. After the French National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF) requested in 2024 that the billionaire be put on trial for corruption, a new front opened up against him on Tuesday, March 18, in a complaint filed in the same jurisdiction, Le Monde has learned.

The lawsuit, which alleges handling and concealment of ill-gotten goods and money laundering, has been filed by a group of 11 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working for transparency in Africa, based in Guinea, Togo, Cameroon and Paris, and headed by the association Restitution pour l'Afrique (RAF). It targets Bolloré SE; its owner, Vincent Bolloré (via his holding company, Compagnie de l'Odet); and its CEO, Cyrille Bolloré, the businessman's son. When contacted, a lawyer for the Bolloré group, Olivier Baratelli, did not "see it useful to react."

"Until 2022, when it sold its Africa Logistics subsidiary, the Bolloré Group held a dominant position in the logistics infrastructure sector in Africa. However, the conditions under which some of these concessions were awarded were the subject of controversial practices, several of which are likely to constitute criminal offenses, or have already been prosecuted and recognized as such," states the complaint, which Le Monde was able to consult.

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