Multi-Million $ Buisiness Owner, Vincent Bollore, Visits the Unity Palace

Vincent Bolloré, Chief Executive Officer of the Bolloré Group, was received at State House by President Paul Biya on April 7. Bollore’s delegation had a one hour discussion with Biya at the end of which he told reporters that he came to discuss business deals with the President. He cited a number of these deals – like the reintroduction of Cinemas in Cameroon, the signing of the Kribi Deep Seaport contract and some investments in the railway sector in Cameroon.

Bollore’s French business empire is surreptitiously becoming one of the biggest in Cameroon, employing thousands already. It has stakes at the Douala Seaport, Cameroon Railways and recently it donated a solar bus system to the University of Yaoundé I. With all these, Bollore’s visit may appear official, but many have different perceptions behind his trip to Etoudi, something the cameras didn’t and couldn’t see.

Bolloré controls most of the Ports in Francophone Africa. In doing this it is on the record as supporting African dictators to prolong their stay in power. Bollore’s Group has high stakes in African politics, sponsoring dictators and political parties from behind. They work in alliance with other French companies like TotalFinaElf that swindles African crude oil away, Bouygues and Suez are involved in construction and water, Rougier empties the African evergreen forest while Castel Group controls much of the brewery market in Francophone Africa.
Supporting dictators means fomenting bloodshed and civil wars. Most conflicts in Africa are planned in France by business men and politicians. In Togo, for example, France used Eyadema to assassinate President Sylvanus Olympio on January 12, 1963. France also sponsored the Biafra fighters because they hoped to lay claims over the oilfields in Easten Nigeria had the secession been successful. Another story was the Rwanda genocide, the Congo civil wars in the 1990s, and many others. After every civil war or conquest, French business deals are signed between the lackey proxies in the name of rulers and the French companies. In the days of the Angolan civil war for example, rebel leader, Jonas Savimbi was receiving support from Elf, Bouygues, Bolloré and Giscardiens.

It is in this light that Cameroonians suspect Vincent Bolloré may not have come for business, but to reassure Paul Biya of their support to stay in power as he’s being flattered to do by CPDM die hearts. After all, the French would be happy to have Paul Biya on rather than another person they may trust.

In the days when Elf was one of the major oil companies in Cameroon, its CEO, Le Floch-Prigent was on the record to have stated that his company (ELF) put Biya at the Unity Palace. With the demise of Elf in Cameroon and the rise of Bolloré, the Group may just be at its best trying to preserve Biya in power.

C.J