On Wednesday, French automobile distribution multinational, CFAO, announced that it has signed a multi-year license with one of the world’s best-known car rental brands, Avis, to offer vehicle leasing to customers. With this partnership, CFAO will be able to extend its knowledge of car rental and leasing markets to help develop the Avis brand across West Africa.
“We are delighted to operate leasing under the LOXEA/Avis Fleet brand going forward,” David B. Wyshner, President and Chief Financial Officer, Avis Budget Group, said in a press statement.
Prior to this agreement, CFAO has a 20-year-long partnership history with Avis, as it has been operating the Avis Car Rental brand in West Africa. Under this license agreement, CFAO will be offering leasing services in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Gabon, Gambia, Equatorial Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, São Tomé and Príncipe and Senegal.
CFAO’s operations in Africa
CFAO has been operating in Africa since 1913 with its footprints in 34 African countries. According to its 2015 financial report 64 percent of its revenue is generated from Africa with French-speaking African countries accounting for 46 percent and English and Portuguese accounting for 14 percent.
In 2015, the company opened its first shopping mall in Africa worth $66 million in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. According to the company, this was the first of the series of eight shopping malls to be unveiled in Africa including locations in Cameroon, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Ghana, Nigeria, DRC and Senegal. More than half of the stores in the Abidjan shopping centre, for instance, will be selling its already existing international brands which include Baïla Pizza, El Rancho, Jeff de Bruges, Beauty Success, L’Occitane en Provence, Bonobo, Cache Cache, Kaporal, San Marina and La Grande Récré.
In May 2016, CFAO launched its Yamaha assembling plant in Nigeria. The plant will assemble two motorcycle models: the Yamaha Crux and the Force X Royale for the Nigerian market. CFAO has been in Nigeria since 1920 and it is the exclusive Nigerian distributor for five internationally renowned brands including Chevrolet and Mitsubishi.
