The African coast and especially Senegal became known to French sailors as early as 1376. Various companies founded by Richelieu and Colbert worked in the country more or less successfully until 1763. From that date seamen from Bordeaux made their appearance on the scene. Our aim is not to tell the story of the period but we would like to point out that in 1816 a young lad by the name of Calvé boarded the La Méduse (of sinister reputation) as an apprentice, was saved from a ship wreck and founded the company Calvé Frères.

As regards the startup of our business, 1828 marks the date when Philippe Lafargue arrives at St Louis, Sénégal. Some years later, in 1846, he goes into partnership with Joseph Larrieu (the contract is exhibited in our board room). The latter disappears in 1860 in a shipwreck between Bordeaux and Dakar. By reminding ourselves that in 1807 Justin Devès boarded the Gorée following a shipwreck we are aware that a voyage between Bordeaux and Africa was not a pleasure trip!

Here we should note the arrival in 1869 of Chéri Peyrissac whose business would be later taken over by Optorg, CATERPILLAR dealer for Sub Saharan Africa.

But back to Philippe Lafargue who, childless, brought over his nephew Jean-Anselme Delmas (JA DELMAS). He developed the business and set up St Louis trading posts along the whole river valley. The trading posts, called "factoreries", supplied essential goods like cloth and small ironware and purchased ground nuts or gum Arabic locally.

In 1903: The son of Jean-Anselme, Philippe, sets up in Dakar, now an important township. In 1912, he leads a large company with operations throughout the country. The acquistion of MAURIN (AEM) increases the scope of traditional business outlined above with a fleet of towed vessels and barges designed for the handling of products from ships arriving from Europe, between Gorée and the Dakar area. That was how the company earned the name Manutention Africaine (African Handling Services)

In 1920: Philippe’s eldest son, Jean Delmas, a Great War survivor, arrives at Rufisque but dies of yellow fever some months later. It therefore falls on his younger brother, 26, to step into the shoes of his father in 1927. However, the economic climate is unfavorable to traditional trading. So, under Pierre the company undergoes radical change and specializes on the technical side, he first takes on the technical representation of RENAULT, then 5 April 1932, signs a General Agreement with CATERPILLAR. At the same time, all Senegal activities are consolidated under the name Manutention Africaine.

39-45 war: The economic activities dry up once more and the premises of Delmas at Bordeaux are requisitioned by the German navy in 1942. To get through that difficult period, Pierre Delmas develops a few activities of substitution in the region of Bordeaux: insecticides, grape seed oil, polishes and waxes.
Renewed economic growth after WW2 enables our company to cover a wide range of activities from mechanical engineering and ship building to the bakery industry, forwarding and haulage via the insurance industry. The CATERPILLAR and RENAULT agencies grow spectacularly. Our business, set up at Bamako and on the Ivory Coast in 1937, becomes significant at Abidjan then at Niamey and Conakry.

1959-1960 : Independence for those African countries in which we operate coincides with the arrival on the scene of a new generation. Indeed, Philippe and Yves Delmas, Pierre’s son, gradually take operations in hand. The general policy is specialization for the CATERPILLAR activity whose development mobilizes all the human and financial resources then available.

 

	In 1975: Manutention Africaine Côte d'Ivoire, lacking space at its Treichville location, builds new shops at Yopougon on a 10 ha plot of land and licensed land covering 13500 sq.m.

Since the eighties, all our activities are focused on our core business know-how: the supply and follow-up of top quality capital goods.

In 2003: Manutention Africaine Mali inaugurates its new installations, 5 600 sq.m of buildings on a 3 ha site.

And now?

With a workforce of 1000 our structure is present in 12 West African countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau , Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Togo.
Thanks to the CATERPILLAR range, successfully distributed for more than 75 years, our company plays a vital role in areas requiring:

Our teams offer not only reliable and efficient equipment but also assure conscientious, constant local support, fast spares deliveries along with training on machines and in cabs.
Our company’s long experience, backing up that world famous equipment, enables African companies and ourselves to offer solutions matching our customers’ conditions thus helping to build the success of their projects.

The new Delmas generation, the fifth, now leads the enterprise through a new, fast changing policy context. Indeed, the huge extension to the CATERPILLAR range, our supplier’s dynamic drive in numerous areas and the globalization of sales operations through the Internet have led to rapid changes in customer needs.

To meet those challenges our main advantage is still:

Commitment to service