A Paris court has found French cement multinational Lafarge guilty of financing terrorist organisations by paying approximately $6.5 million to jihadist groups, including Islamic State and the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front.
The ruling represents the first time a company has been convicted in France for complicity in financing terrorism, marking a historic legal precedent.
The court also sentenced former Lafarge Chief Executive Officer Bruno Lafont to six years in prison for terrorism financing. In addition, former deputy managing director Christian Herrault received a five-year prison sentence.
Delivering the judgment in Paris, presiding judge Isabelle Prevost-Desprez said the payments were made to maintain operations at Lafarge’s Syrian facility but ultimately strengthened terrorist networks. She noted that the funds enabled armed groups to consolidate control over resources during the country’s descent into the Syrian civil war and facilitated the financing of attacks in the region and abroad.
Prosecutors told the court that Lafarge used intermediaries to channel payments to armed groups in exchange for safe passage for staff and transport of goods. The company’s cement plant in Syria, established in 2010, remained operational even as most foreign firms withdrew from the country by 2012. Foreign staff were evacuated while local employees continued operations until 2014, when the facility was eventually taken over after the Islamic State declared its so-called caliphate across parts of Syria and Iraq.
Lafarge acknowledged the court’s findings, stating that the transactions occurred over a decade ago and violated its internal code of conduct. The company was also fined €1.125 million.
Herrault’s defence argued that keeping the plant open was partly driven by concerns for the safety and welfare of local employees.
Beyond the courtroom, the case has drawn attention to Lafarge’s global operations. The company remains a significant player in Nigeria’s cement industry through Lafarge Africa Plc, with an estimated installed capacity of about 10.5 million metric tonnes across multiple plants. Expansion plans are ongoing at its Ashaka plant in Gombe State and its Sagamu plant in Ogun State.
Earlier developments in the company’s ownership saw parent firm Holcim divest its 83.81% stake in Lafarge Africa Plc to Chinese cement manufacturer Huaxin Cement in a deal valued at about $1 billion.
The verdict is expected to intensify global scrutiny of corporate conduct and financial flows linked to conflict zones and terrorist organisations.
