19 July 2019

Cameroonian and Vietnamese authorities have waded in to resolve a drawn-out managerial crisis rocking Nexttel, the brand name of Viettel Cameroon, which is the third privately-owned mobile telecommunications network service provider in the west African country.

It is a joint venture between Viettel Global Investment Joint Stock Company (a subsidiary of Vietnam military telecoms company – Viettel) and Bestcam, a local shareholder.

The crisis stems from disagreements in the management of the company by the Cameroonian and Vietnamese stakeholders.

Vietnamese shareholders have denied allegations by their Cameroonian counterparts of flouting Cameroonian business laws, including the Organisation pour l’harmonisation en Afrique du droit des affaires (OHADA) law, which translates as “Organisation for the Harmonization of Corporate Law in Africa”. The OHADA Treaty is made up today of 17 African states.

El Hadji Baba Danpullo, board chair at Bestcam has accused the general manager of Viettel Cameroon “of running Nexttel like his private business”.

He further claimed that the Vietnamese were recruiting their counterparts at the expense of unemployed Cameroonians.

However, the dispute is also predicated on other issues, such as signatures for financial transactions, engagement of foreign partners, purchase of telecoms hardware and transfers of technology, amongst others.