Accounts have been frozen by Cameroon court since September 2022 in reprisal that does Cameroon no favours
South African mobile operator MTN Group says its Cameroon operations are threatened by the seizure of its bank accounts in the country as part of a dispute in which it plays no part.
MTN Cameroon’s accounts with more than CFA14 billion (€20.34 million) have been frozen by Cameroon court order since September 2022. The company was drawn into into a loan dispute by a Cameroonian businessman, MTN said.
Reuters reports that MTN Cameroon’s CEO, Mitwa Ng’ambi, told a press conference that after a court decision on 9 June, the funds were to be transferred into an escrow account managed by the court registrar.
She added, “A threat to our operations is a threat to everything we have built in service to Cameroon over the last 23 years,” adding that the company will use “all possible means to put an end to the imminent miscarriage of justice”.
More than 12 million subscribers
MTN is Africa’s largest mobile carrier and its Cameroon subsidiary has one of the biggest networks in the country, with over 12 million users.
Ng’ambi said the matter has caused difficulties in paying service providers and employees and could hurt the operator’s 800 Cameroonian employees as well as 200,000 people who work for its suppliers and other partners.
The controversy stems from a dispute between Cameroonian business mogul Ahmadou Baba Danpullo and South Africa’s First National Bank (FNB) over a real estate loan, said Ng’ambi.
Bizarre reprisals
When the bank liquidated a number of properties belonging to Danpullo in South Africa, the businessman retaliated by having a Cameroonian court freeze the accounts of South African companies including MTN and Chococam, owned by Tiger Brands, she said.
Melvin Akam, MTN Cameroon’s GM of Regulatory and Corporate Affairs, said the seizure of the company’s accounts was “abusive, fraudulent and unacceptable.”
Yesterday South Africa’s foreign ministry urged company executives to continue pursuing all legal avenues available, adding “Unfortunately, these latest developments will challenge the extent and appetite for investments into Cameroon”.