19.3.2026
French billionaire Vincent Bolloré is set to face trial on corruption and embezzlement charges related to election campaigns in Togo and Guinea in 2009, 2010 and 2011.
Bolloré, a media, transport and energy tycoon is suspected of having bribed foreign officials in the Paris suburb of Puteaux during the election campaign of presidents Faure Gnassingbe in Togo and Alpha Conde in Guinea, in what has come to be known as the “African Ports” affair, French prosecutors disclosed on Thursday.
Bolloré was placed under formal investigation in 2018 over allegations his company undercharged for work on behalf of presidential candidates in Guinea and Togo in return for port contracts.
The Bolloré Group, which is controlled and run by the billionaire’s family, used to own logistics assets in Africa but sold them to shipping company MSC Group in 2022.
In March 2025, a collective of African NGOs from Togo, Guinea, Cameroon, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and Democratic Republic of Congo filed a complaint to the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office accusing the conglomerate of systematically using corrupt practices to secure lucrative port concessions in at least five African nations, before selling its African logistics operations for €5.7 billion in 2022 to Swiss-Italian shipping giant MSC. RFI