Socfin’s plantations under threat in Cameroon and Liberia
On 23 February 2016, Greenpeace France published a report titled Africa’s forests under threat: Investigation of the investments of the Bolloré Group and its Belgian partner Hubert Fabri,1 which shed light on the threats that the Société Financière des Caoutchoucs (Socfin) represents for African tropical forests by its refusal to commit to a zero deforestation policy.
Socfin is not well-known to the general public but has been operating in Africa for over a century.2 It is one of the leading oil palm and rubber tree plantation operators on the continent. Heading up Socfin’s shareholdings are two figures of African business: Vincent Bolloré, France’s ninth-richest person,3 and the Belgian businessman Hubert Fabri. Socfin has announced plans to extend its plantations in a dozen countries, mostly African nations, threatening forests that are essential for the preservation of climate balances, biodiversity and the living conditions of local populations.