2024-03-12 13:38:05
Today president of the reunified and renamed Africa Global Logistics group and head of the Africa committee of Medef International, Philippe Labonne is now approaching the turning point in a sector facing competition and numerous geopolitical challenges. For Young Africahe looks at the news that directly or indirectly affects a sector in full transformation.
Young Africa: The Red Sea is currently the scene of disruptions in maritime traffic. The giants MSC, Maersk and CMA CGM have had to change their routes. Does this worry you for the future?
Philippe Labonne: In recent years, we have understood that the world is increasingly unpredictable. We have had Covid, we have the war in Ukraine, we also have the situation in the Middle East and this means that the supply chain must adapt.
We were able to demonstrate during the crisis how logistics companies, like Africa Global Logistics, had managed to continue supplying the world with vaccines. Regarding the Red Sea, shipping companies now pass through the Cape of Good Hope. The journey is longer, round trip, 20 days, and indeed it costs more money to the shipping companies and therefore ultimately to the customers.
For a country like Egypt, which derives most of its revenue from the Suez Canal, the change of route is a fatal blow. What is the impact on your local activity?
Egypt is a strategic country for Africa. It is a country which is located on the edge of the Red Sea and controls the Suez Canal. There is a lot of energy, great skills and arable land. Its geographical location allows it to serve the part of the Horn of Africa that extends to Kenya, which has arable land.
Egypt will regain its geographical position when the time comes. I think that today, we must stay in Egypt, be patient, lower the sail if necessary and also take a good look at the country’s assets and its potential in the emergence of the African continent.
On the other hand, in the west of the continent, we find the same situation of unpredictability, even insecurity, in the Sahel. Do European companies, and particularly French ones, still have their place there?
In fact, these are very young countries, in the process of being built, which are going through crises. Indeed, the political situation has an impact on the functioning of business because certain actors withdraw. But that’s not our case. We continue to stay in these countries to serve players in the agro-industrial world in particular.
Among our major customers, we have cotton producers and we ensure the evacuation of almost the entire cotton campaign in Burkina Faso and Mali. People continue to work, to feed themselves. It is also important that our employees continue to be able to work.
Concretely, for a private sector player, what impact can economic sanctions have on your activities?
In these cases, the actors react with a certain inertia, particularly in the orders. Then, shipowners adapt and begin to no longer load for Niger.
So you actually have a declining activity. This was the case of the port of Benin, it is also the case in Niger. We then try to tighten the sails, while wishing to stay in the country.
Our activities in Benin have not been significantly affected, but we are experiencing a significant drop in volumes at the port of Cotonou. As for Niger, the good news is that the ECOWAS states have decided to lift sanctions and the country must return to its path in the regional economy.
And what about Mali?
We remained in Mali, where we operate several dry ports and are the logistician for large cotton companies. We will stay in the country. I think that there are two times, that of the economy and that of politics, and economic actors must understand that we must give politicians time to resolve their equation.
Don’t you fear boycott or banishment, as a French group subsidiary of an Italian-Swiss group?
We have been present in the Sahel for decades. We have customers there who count on us, and we will stay. On the continent, from East to West, from North to South, French companies are extremely appreciated.
French companies have the specificity of being humanist: people are at the heart of everything and the attention we pay to communities is very important. Today, there is no question of banishing or withdrawing French actors from Africa.
What do you say to those who criticize France and say that, like other powers, it monopolizes raw materials?
I think that France’s role in Africa is very honorable. Once again, I am not a politician, and I will give politicians time to act. But for our part, we will continue our investments in Africa and we are convinced that economic players on the continent have their role to play to contribute to its prosperity, to create employment for young people, to train them and to enable Africa to develop its intra-African trade. Once again, this is a condition for prosperity and peace.
When the business climate is more complicated in one region than another, have you not considered transferring your activities to the latter? In East Africa for example?
This is the vision of the MSC group: Africa is a new frontier of development. Today, the African continent represents 3% of world trade. And when we know that its population will represent a quarter of the world population in 2050, we can imagine the development potential of this continent.
There is no question of making a choice between one country and another. Of course, as I said, we must adapt, be agile when a security or political situation leads to a reduction in activities. On the other hand, we will remain in West Africa and we will continue our developments in other regions of Africa.
We must take African States seriously, we must take African citizens seriously, this is what Africa Global Logistics does and this is why States trust us. The French companies that I know are extremely respectful of their African partners and enjoy a good image.
These companies have employed half a million people in Africa since I became head of the Medef Africa committee. We will map the impact of French companies in Africa to demonstrate how they have a positive impact on the African economy and contribute to prosperity and the development of good practices.
But above all, what President Macron is referring to is bad students?
What I would say is that I do not recognize myself and I do not recognize us in the words of President Macron.
What are your priorities at the head of the Medef International Africa committee?
First, I think we need to measure the impact of French companies. Our position within Medef International is to help French companies develop in Africa, but also to help them establish partnerships with African players, to contribute to creating a virtuous ecosystem for the development of local supply chains in Africa which correspond today to the priority of the continent.
What are your relations with other employers in Africa?
There are 54 countries in Africa, so there are 54 African employers. I don’t know them all, but relations are good and whenever we can, we organize joint missions. Soon, we will organize a business forum with the Moroccan employers in May. We will promote partnerships between French and Moroccan companies to contribute to the economic development of Morocco.
Do you welcome the warming of diplomatic relations between France and Morocco?
In Morocco, we have more than 1,300 companies, 50,000 employees, subsidiaries of these French groups. It is an important country for French companies and it is an important country for Africa. And it is essential that relationships are as good as possible.
One of your credos is the Africanization of your group’s subsidiaries. Is this felt at the level of the various boards of directors?
The vast majority of our companies are run by Africans. There are other nationalities. The boss of our terminal in Tema is Palestinian, the boss of our activities in the Guinea and Sierra Leone region is Croatian. I’ll give you two examples, but the majority of our employees are African. Clearly, the majority of our businesses in Africa will be run by Africans.
Another of the subjects that you defend at Medef is the African Continental Free Trade Area (Zlecaf). Is this a hope for the French leader that you are?
Of course, it is one of the axes of our strategy, as well as one of the axes of AGL’s strategy, to contribute to the development of intra-African trade. Today, this represents 20% of Africa’s trade, or less than 1% of world trade. The room for improvement is immense.
The first market of Africa and African states must be Africa itself. This is a priority subject for us and recently, we were in Ethiopia and met the African Union commissioner in charge of Zlecaf to measure the progress of the project and present to him the skills of French companies in this area. transport and commerce.
This is a priority subject, but it is clear that it has been slipping since the entry into force of the free trade agreement in 2021. Concretely, in what way can French employers and their experience with the European Union- they help?
French companies can provide their expertise but they cannot provide the political will. So it is up to African states to ensure that the political will is applied. We can only share our experience in corridor management, goods transfer and information management along flows. We can also raise awareness, at our level, of the need to streamline the movement of goods and show how this can contribute to the prosperity of economies and the creation of jobs.
In fact, what we hope is to promote the image of an Africa that is winning. I was struck by the opening ceremony of the CAN, which I attended with my wife, and which was of high quality, with extremely well organized shows and great professionalism. It is this image of Africa that we want to support and it is this image of Africa with which we wish to be associated.