MSC, the new juggernaut of logistics transport in West Africa

Published: 04/01/2022 – 22:53

To say that Zionluigi Aponte owes his good fortune to his in-laws would be an insult to his intelligence. However, thanks to the capital provided by Rafaela, his wife, the daughter of a Swiss banker, the young Captain Aponte bought his first freighter in 1969.

The son of an Italian sailor living in Somalia embarked on a maritime expedition before converting containers in the 1980s. The Italian-Swiss group Mediterranean Shipping Company has acquired Dimension World.

Also read: Bolore sells its logistics operations in Africa to ship owner MSC

Now, it handles 21.5 million containers each year in more than 40 ports worldwide. This family business, with carefully protected capital, was also very popular with French leaders. The right-hand man of Emmanuel Macron, Alexis Kohler, is actually associated with the Aponte family. He is also suspected of colluding with interests with the MSC group.

However, Paris saw this proximity as an asset in maintaining trade positions and good relations with African leaders. As for MSC, it has a lot to do with land transport in Africa through its subsidiary Medlog and its 650 trucks, which has been strengthening its port assets for many years.

Semi-monopolistic situation in Lome

However, if all powers were to be exercised and the acquisition of Bollore Africa Logistics implemented, the MSC would become a juggler in West Africa, our correspondent in Abidjan, Peter Pinto. In C కోట్te d’Ivoire, Bollore operates the first container terminal at Abidjan’s Autonomous Port. And soon a second, consortium with its partner APM Terminals, a port subsidiary of the Danish Marsk.

This second terminal, to be commissioned in a few months, will give the port of Abidjan another dimension to compete with its neighbors in the region: Tema in Ghana, where Bolore is also well established, but most importantly Lome or Lagos with its French China Merchants ports, the Italians of Grimaldi Shares.

MSC, which has set up its continental hub in Togo, is facing a virtual monopoly on container traffic by operating in Lore, Bolore. Still in the area, MSC is already established in San Pedro, west of C కోట్te d’Ivoire, the exit port for Ivory raw materials and the gateway to some of the hinterland.

In addition to ports, MSC also serves landlocked countries in the subdivision. Thanks in advance Sitara. This subsidiary of Bollore is connected by train from Abidjan to Zagadougou by train via Bobo-Diolaso. Prior to Kovid-19, it carried 200,000 passengers and 900,000 tons of cargo per year. The Italian-Swiss group can also count several dry ports: three in Bamako and one in Chaos, one in Mali, two in Ouagadougou and another in Bobo-Diolaso ​​in Burkina Faso.