Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Bolloré
Cession de Bolloré Africa Logistics: Cyrille Bolloré donne des assurances au personnel.
Cession de Bolloré Africa Logistics: Cyrille Bolloré donne des assurances au personnel.
About Cyrille Bolloré
Cyrille Bolloré, Chairman and CEO of Bolloré, visited Senegal in July 2022 to address employees following the announced sale of Bolloré Africa Logistics. During the visit, he stated that the decision to sell was not purely for capitalist reasons but also reflected a desire for the transition to occur with partners who share the same "DNA" as the group. He expressed pride in being the seventh generation to lead the family business, which operates in transport, logistics, communication, media, agriculture, music, and electricity storage. Bolloré also praised employees for their "extraordinary courage" during the COVID-19 pandemic. Bolloré discussed a new agricultural project involving the gathering of different farmers for plantations of various raw materials, with a focus on local processing to create jobs and value. He noted the importance of transforming goods locally to build sustainable brands that consume less and contribute to job creation in Africa, particularly in Senegal. He also commented on having exchanged views with Senegalese officials on the geopolitical situation, describing the president's thinking as "full of common sense" and "very hopeful for Africa."
Transcript (4 segments)
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Interviewer0:09
Cyrille felt it necessary to come himself, frankly, to outline the upcoming changes, and especially to reassure about the future. He stated that this decision was not taken lightly for purely capitalist reasons, but also obeys a desire for this change to happen with our partners who share the same DNA as us. In reality, as the new group is a family group, I think that what is also reassuring is that it has been accepted in the development. You, Mr. Philippe Labonne, will also be in charge, I would say, of taking charge of Bolloré's activities in Africa.
Personally, Cyrille, I want to thank you for this 48-hour visit you are making to Senegal. We are very happy to see you. You know the saying in Africa: the way of giving is better than what is given. Today, through your presence, you have shown all the rest and the style you have for everything done by the teams, because you decided to meet them today. Naturally, we are coming out of a long meeting with the head of state, President Macky Sall, who knows Cyrille very well and holds him in high esteem. He considers that we have exchanged a lot with him, and naturally Cyrille reserved for him, as is fitting, the first news of a certain number of informations that he will communicate himself. In reality, the economy is what brings us together today. It is Cyrille, here in Senegal, who has decided to stop by to explain his vision for two days, and especially to reassure you. Prepare to hear that once again, logically one can think that there is a witness, we always have a pang in the heart, and to tell you that for the future, legally there is no reason to worry further. On the contrary, there will be a certain pooling, organization, a certain synergy, and logically we will find ourselves more strengthened. Besides, I think there is no better person than himself to tell you this. But that's what I wanted to say. Thank you once again to Cyrille for the friendship he shows us and for the esteem he has for the more than 30 years of our business, his father, and that they continue to consolidate the mast and show us all the friendship and affection he has for us.
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Cyrille Bolloré3:29
I am very proud to be the seventh generation to lead this family group, which operates in transport, logistics, communication, media, agriculture, music, and electricity storage. The purpose of this visit has several aspects. First, to visit our teams whom I have not seen, unfortunately due to the pandemic, for nearly a year and a half, which was a long period that we missed enormously on our side, because modern means allowed us to continue working and be resilient, but meeting people, seeing them daily to understand what we do and perceive their state of mind seems extremely important to me. And I wanted to congratulate them for their resilience during this difficult period of COVID. The teams, the men and women who make them up, have shown extraordinary courage every day throughout this period, as they always have and will continue to do.
And a second key aspect: I also wanted to meet the teams and the head of state to present our project with Aimé, which seems to me, as most of the teams think, a tremendous opportunity and catalyst for this company, and therefore for Senegal and all the jobs it represents. To tell His Excellency and our collaborators about the different businesses we have developed in recent years: publishing, pay-TV, music which is developing progressively and significantly in Africa, and a new project very close to the heart of the entire Bolloré group, which is the development of agricultural projects bringing together different farmers according to plantations that could exist for different raw materials, primarily processing on site, because that is what creates jobs and value. And I note that for ten years on this continent, not all, but a large part of food and raw materials cultivated here are sent to be processed in other distant geographies: America, Europe, the United Arab Emirates, to return. In a period where transport is expensive and CO2 has become an enemy of the planet, it seems important to me to be able to process locally and create a local brand for consumption and a brand that would be consumed internationally, which would allow us to have sustainable products, that is, low consumption, and which contributes to job creation on this continent dear to our hearts, mainly in Senegal, of course. I think His Excellency listened and I thank him once again for his attention and understanding of all our investment intentions. We also exchanged on his geopolitical vision of the world in a very particular and complex period, as you know. I just told our collaborators about the macroeconomic situation: the whole world is going through, is already going through a difficult phase. And I found very sincerely, because I wanted to congratulate him on his accession to the presidency of the African Union, I found his thinking and what he told me to be full of common sense, full of reality, and very hopeful for Africa, and with a Europe that must firmly listen. I am convinced that they tell you, thank you very much, kind.