Jean-Yves Ollivier
Jean-Yves Ollivier (born 8 October 1944 in Algiers, Algeria) is a French businessman working primarily in the commodities sector in emerging markets.[1]
In addition to his business ventures, Jean-Yves Ollivier has been active as a parallel diplomat for many years, using his personal relationships with heads of states to facilitate mediation and peace processes in Africa.[2]
In the 2013 documentary "Plot for Peace", Jean-Yves Ollivier (pseudonym Monsieur Jacques) is described as a French secret service agent.[3]
Early Career
Jean-Yves Ollivier started his professional career in 1964 as an international commodities trader for Strauss Turnbull & Co (London) monitoring the South African gold mining sector. He then worked (1966-1969) for JA Goldschmidt SA in Paris, where he managed the grain trade (notably the African market). It is in this period that he started to regularly travel to Africa.
In 1970, he was hired by Grainex SA, where he quickly acquired important responsibilities.[4]
In 1975, he founded his first company, Arinco Group. In 1980, he was chosen to represent several French companies (including Thomson CSF) who were looking to invest in Africa, and started his own oil trading company, Vitank, in association with Henk Vietor, Peter de Savary and Arhmed Mannai.
In 1986 he was appointed director of Charbons de France, a French company specialised in coal trading. In 1994, he created Gestilac SA, and in 2002, PanAf Consultancy GmbH (Zurich) and Pan Africa Consulting(Hong-Kong). He later merged the three companies into one holding corporation: the Fort Group.
In 2009, he closed the sale of 25% of offshore Marine XII in Congo Brazzaville waters from ENI and SNPC to London-based company New Age.[5]
Parallel diplomacy
In the 1980s, Jean-Yves Ollivier was appointed adviser on African affairs to then Mayor of Paris, Jacques Chirac, continuing in that role when Chirac became Prime minister in 1986.[6] Jacques Chirac asked him to undertake a secret mission to free four French hostages held in Lebanon (Marcel Fontaine, Marcel Carton, Jean-Paul Kaufmann and Michel Seurat).
On 7 September 1987, on the tarmac of Maputo airport, Mozambique, 133 Angolan soldiers and 50 SWAPO independence fighters from Namibia were freed by South African authorities in exchange for South African Captain Wynand DuToit. DuToit had been captured 2 years earlier in Angola while he and his men were trying to sabotage oil infrastructure in Cabinda, during what has been called Operation Cabinda. Jean-Yves Ollivier secretly negotiated this large-scale prisoner exchange, which also led to the liberation of two anti-apartheid militants who were being held in South Africa, Frenchman Pierre-Andre Albertini and Dutchman Klaas de Jong.[7]
Following the May 1988 Reagan/Gorbachev summit in Moscow, a quick succession of talks took place in London, New York, Geneva, Cairo, and Cape Verde aimed at a negotiated regional peace settlement for Southern Africa. On 13 December 1988, thanks to Jean-Yves Ollivier's influence with Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso, the Congo's capital Brazzaville hosted the final round of negotiations between Angola, Cuba and South Africa culminating in the signing of the Brazzaville Protocol. High profile participants in Brazzaville included South African Defence Minister Magnus Malan, South African Foreign Minister Pik Botha, US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Chester Crocker, UN Under Secretary-General for Administration Martti Ahtisaari, Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze; Jean-Christophe Mitterrand, Special Adviser on Africa to French President Francois Mitterrand; and, General Neels van Tonder, South African Defence Force Head of Military Intelligence.[8][9]
In 1989, Jean-Yves Ollivier began a mediation process in Comoros following French mercenary Bob Denard’s coup de force on the islands. He convinced Denard to leave the islands.
In 1990, he organised new South African President F W de Klerk's visit to France, the first such visit for 40 years. French President François Mitterrand personally received President de Klerk.[10]
In 2002, Jean-Yves Ollivier engaged in talks in South Africa's Sun City which eventually led to a power sharing agreement in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) between President Joseph Kabila and several rebel leaders, including Jean-Pierre Bemba, the head of the Mouvement pour la Liberation du Congo (MLC).
Honours
In 1987, Jean-Yves Ollivier received the Order of Good Hope from Foreign Minister Roelof “Pik” Botha. In 1995, he was elevated to the grade of Grand Officer of the Order of Good Hope by South African President Nelson Mandela for his role in ending the Apartheid. Jean-Yves Ollivier is the only French non government affiliated individual so far to have received this distinction.[11]
Jean-Yves Ollivier also holds the title of “Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur” and “Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite” in France, as well as the title of “Commandeur de l’Ordre de Mérite Congolais” in Congo Brazzaville, and “Grand Officier de l ‘Étoile d’Anjouan” in Comoros.[12]
References
- ↑ "Jean-Yves Ollivier" Huffington Post
- ↑ The Huffington Post: "Plot for Peace: The Untold Story Behind South Africa's History" 18 June 2013.
- ↑ "Plot for Peace" Official Trailer
- ↑ "Official Biography"
- ↑ "L'énergie d'avancer"
- ↑ "Atlantico"
- ↑ "Relations Internationales"
- ↑ "The Brazzaville Protocol"
- ↑ "Plot for Peace Documentary"
- ↑ "Apartheid was doomed for economic not moral reasons"
- ↑ "Africa Intelligence"
- ↑ "Who's Who"
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