(Ecofin Agency) - The West African railroad loop project recently launched by French group Bolloré could be derailed. Indeed: French engineering company Geftarail filed a petition, on 5 November, at the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce to request the immediate cessation of the works, which started in Niger and Benin, according to information revealed on 12 November by the French economic weekly Challenges.

The company funded in the mid-1990s by rail expert Michel Bosio specified that it had presented about twenty years ago an interconnecting rail loop project linking Cotonou to Ouagadougou via Niamey. The Ouagadougou-Abidjan route already exists. It has been operated by Bolloré since 1994. This project was strongly supported by ex-Prime Minister Michel Rocard (photo).

Geftarail, thus claiming ownership of the West African railroad loop project, also revealed having signed an agreement with four African states to implement it, according to Challenges.

The complaint filed by the Parisian law firm Betto Seraglini specifies that, according to the same weekly newspaper, Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger, later joined by Togo, contracted Geftarail to "implement of a legal concession structure in charge of building and operating the interconnected railroad network". In 2002, Geftarail and these same African states created Africarail, of which the French company owns 90% shares, which obtained "the right to build along the outline of the railroad between the cities of Kaya (Burkina Faso), Niamey (Niger) and Parakou (Benin)".

Africarail then looked for the necessary funds for the construction, evaluated at USD 10 million. A "rail and mining" steering committee headed by Michel Rocard in partnership with French groups, including Bolloré, was thus created in Bercy to mobilise the funds. But this committee did not succeed in mobilising the requested funds.

Four years later, Vincent Bolloré has just launched on a solo effort this project which will cross 5 countries: Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Niger, Benin and Togo. As part of this project, the Bolloré group is planning to renovate existing routes and build new ones, in particular between Niger and Burkina Faso and Niger and Benin.

In their complaint, the plaintiffs are denouncing the decision by Niger and Benin "to authorise the Bolloré group to build and operate part of the railroad of the Africarail project, in violation of the rights granted" and request the suspension of the works.

"Vincent Bolloré usurped intellectual property rights. He is in breach of the agreements signed with the African states. It is a crime", Michel Rocard confided to Challenges.

Bolloré however says that the group is not concerned by prior commitments made the African states, while remaining that the West African railroad loop is originally a colonial project dating back to 1904.

The group of industrialist Vincent Bolloré also puts forward its capacity to raise the funds necessary to the launch of the project. "It is a major West African project. Historically, I dates back to 1904, part of the railroad loop has been built and was stopped in the 30s. Since then, many studies were done on projects to renovate the existing network and build the new stretches, but they were never came through. At Bolloré, we have shown that we can do things and more importantly, we invest in equity funds" Ange Mancini, advisor to Vincent Bolloré, who monitors the construction of the railroad, specified.