With a presence in 33 African countries, CFAO sold nearly 70,000 new cars last year and delivered 136 million boxes of medicine

“THE GROUP WAS CREATED IN 1887 in Marseille, France. It was a trading company at this time and the first branch was set up in St. Louis du Senegal.

The company imported goods into Africa, and exported local goods from various points in the African continent – from Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea, Ivory Coast...That is how it started,” states Cyril Gilger, Managing Director of CFAO in The Gambia.

“We used to sell rubber, machines and cars. Since 1997, we have expanded into the Mahgreb in North Africa and to Eastern and Austral Africa. As for The Gambia, we used to have activities all around the river; we used to be far bigger, indeed, than what we are now,” he continues.

“There was a time when we were the only big foreign company here. With the liberalization and globalization of the market, we have investors coming in from all over the world. It’s easy to see why – the market is attractive despite its size. The Gambia is strategically located and it has political stability.”

CFAO Group is a whole subsidiary of PPR Group, a global player in retail and luxury goods and the name behind Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Puma, and Fnac, Europe’s leading retailer of cultural and technology products. With more than 10,200 employees across the globe, CFAO is active in 40 markets worldwide, and is the leading automobile and pharmaceutical company in Africa, where it has a presence in 33 countries, as well as the French Overseas Departments and Territories and Vietnam.
Last year, the company had a turnover of 2.5 billion euros from its four divisions: CFAO Automotive, which represented nearly 60% of revenues; Eurapharma, its pharmaceutical division and second-largest revenue generator; CFAO Industries and Trading, involved in the production and distribution of consumer goods and equipment; and CFAO Technologies, dedicated to the distribution and integration of information and communication technologies, mainly in the voice, data and images processing and networking markets.

“Worldwide, we sold 69.8 thousand new vehicles and delivered 136 million boxes of medicine last year,” says Mr. Gilger. “We bring our knowledge and expertise into the continent and set the standards for our sector. We are an example of how a business can be successful in Africa.”