Burkinabe billionaire Mahamadou Bonkoungou, certainly one of West Africa’s most outstanding businessmen, has suffered a blow to his regional ambitions after Gabon abruptly canceled a contract along with his EBOMAF Group.
The Nationwide Inland and Worldwide Navigation Firm (CNNII) introduced on Aug. 20 that it was terminating its partnership with EBOMAF, barely six months after the Burkinabe agency was introduced in to handle operations. The deal, signed in February, had been billed as a lifeline for the struggling state-owned firm, which has confronted years of economic and logistical challenges.
Gabonese officers stated EBOMAF fell quick on its guarantees, significantly in placing up the wanted capital and assembly operational targets. The Burkinabe-owned conglomerate formally assumed management of the Compagnie nationale de navigation intérieure et internationale (CNNII) in February 2025, after delivering a vessel to assist safe passenger transport between Libreville and the oil hub of Port-Gentil. Gabonese authorities had offered EBOMAF’s arrival as a rescue mission for an organization thought-about very important to nationwide sovereignty within the river, lagoon and coastal delivery sector.
On the time, CNNII was drowning in debt, suppliers had been unpaid, and employees had been owed 17 months of again wages. The state turned to EBOMAF, led by billionaire businessman Mahamadou Bonkoungou, in hopes that new administration would stabilize the struggling enterprise.
Whether or not that has occurred stays unclear. Staff on the firm have voiced unease over modifications introduced in beneath EBOMAF’s administration, whereas authorities have but to offer clear information displaying any turnaround. The Libreville–Port-Gentil route stays in operation, however doubts in regards to the firm’s function are rising as belief between the perimeters frays.
For Bonkoungou, 58, the reversal marks an uncommon stumble. By way of EBOMAF — quick for Entreprise Bonkoungou Mahamadou et Fils — he constructed a fortune spanning public works, highway development, aviation, and transport, with operations stretching from Burkina Faso to Benin, Togo, and Côte d’Ivoire. Recognized for daring enlargement strikes, he had just lately turned his sights on Central Africa, with Gabon seen as a strategic entry level.
The breakdown with CNNII means that path could also be extra sophisticated. Analysts say the setback may dampen EBOMAF’s credibility in Central Africa, even because the group stays sturdy in its West African base.
Mahamadou Bonkoungou has constructed certainly one of West Africa’s most recognizable enterprise empires, a narrative that started modestly within the late Nineteen Eighties and grew right into a regional powerhouse spanning development, aviation and finance.
Born in 1966, Bonkoungou entered the enterprise world by buying and selling and gold dealing earlier than launching his firm, Entreprise Bonkoungou Mahamadou et Fils, in 1988. What began as a household enterprise rapidly grew to become recognized throughout Burkina Faso for highway and public works tasks, laying the inspiration for the group that at present operates merely as EBOMAF.
Through the years, EBOMAF has delivered main infrastructure throughout West Africa, together with highways, bridges and enormous actual property developments. Amongst its most bold tasks is a global airport now beneath development in Gabon, a part of a pipeline valued at greater than $3 billion.
Bonkoungou has additionally diversified. He owns Liza Transport, a jet constitution service, and controls IB Holding, which took over the Togolese Financial institution for Commerce and Trade.
