Lafarge Found Guilty Of Financing Islamic State & Other Terrorist Groups

French Cement Giant Lafarge Convicted of Financing Islamic State and Other Jihadists in Syria

A Paris court has convicted French cement maker Lafarge of financing terrorism after it paid millions of euros to jihadist groups, including the Islamic State and al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, to keep its Syrian factory running during the civil war.

The ruling, delivered on Monday, marks the first time a company has been tried and found guilty in France on terrorism financing charges. Judges said the payments, totalling €5.59 million between 2013 and 2014, amounted to a “genuine commercial partnership” with the militants.

Former Lafarge CEO Bruno Lafont received a six-year jail term and was ordered to begin serving it immediately. His deputy, Christian Herrault, was sentenced to five years, while Syrian staff member Firas Tlass got seven years in absentia for handling the actual transfers. The company itself, now under Swiss conglomerate Holcim, was slapped with the maximum fine of €1.125 million and additional penalties for breaching EU sanctions.

Judge Isabelle Prevost-Desprez stated clearly that the sole aim was profit. “These payments enabled Lafarge to continue its operations,” she said, adding that the money helped jihadists control resources and finance attacks across the Middle East and Europe.

NaijaChoice News understands the case centres on Lafarge’s cement plant in Jalabiya, northern Syria, bought in 2008 for $680 million. Employees had to cross checkpoints controlled by armed groups, leading to regular “protection” and raw material payments, including €800,000 for safe passage.

Prosecutors described the arrangement as deliberate. Lafarge staff lived in nearby Manbij and continued operations even after Islamic State seized large parts of Syria and Iraq in 2014.

In a statement, Lafarge described the matter as “a legacy issue” from over a decade ago that violated its own code of conduct. The firm said it has since taken steps to address the past conduct responsibly. Holcim now owns the parent group following the 2015 merger.

The Paris verdict follows a 2022 United States settlement where Lafarge paid $777.8 million after admitting it supported designated terrorist groups to protect revenue from the same Syrian plant.

A separate French investigation into Lafarge’s possible complicity in crimes against humanity remains ongoing.

For Nigeria, the case carries sharp relevance. Until last year, Lafarge operated major plants across the country, including Ashaka in the North-East, under the Lafarge Africa Plc banner before Holcim sold its stake to China’s Huaxin Cement in August 2025 for $1 billion. Nigerian authorities and businesses now face similar risks in regions plagued by Boko Haram and its ISWAP offshoot, which still draw inspiration and loose affiliation from the Islamic State.

Experts say the ruling sends a strong global signal: corporations cannot treat terror financing as a cost of doing business. In Nigeria, where the Financial Intelligence Unit and EFCC continue to track funding flows to insurgents, the Lafarge precedent could strengthen calls for stricter due diligence by multinationals operating in volatile zones.

The judgment has been welcomed by anti-terror campaigners as a milestone in corporate accountability, though Lafarge has indicated it may appeal.