19 June 2023
MTN Cameroon believes that its activities are threatened by the seizure of its bank accounts, as part of the ‘Bestinver affair.'
The MNO complains of paying the price for a dispute in which it plays no role and considers the measure to be abusive, fraudulent, and unacceptable.
In September 2022 the Cameroonian justice authorised the seizure of MTN Cameroon's bank accounts at the request of the lawyers of Cameroonian businessman Ahmadou Baba Danpullo. The manoeuvre comes in response to the liquidation of the four subsidiaries of its real estate investment company in South Africa - Bestinver holding, under the impetus of FirstRand Bank Limited (FRBL), parent company of First National Bank (FNB) - to which Danpullo's company owed 507 million rand.
Danpullo rejects these motives, calling the liquidation of these assets a racially motivated spoliation and crusade. He is therefore seeking to recover from South African companies based in Cameroon, some 259 billion CFA francs, presented as the value of the real estate of which Bestinver was allegedly looted. In addition, Bestinver believes that MTN Cameroon is a subsidiary of Public Investment Corporate (PIC), a shareholder of FBN.
The freezing of MTN Cameroon's bank accounts could affect its ability invest properly in its telecom network.
“MTN Cameroon has confidence in the judicial system as an institution and believes that it is entitled, like all litigants, to fair, equitable and impartial justice. MTN Cameroon therefore wants the right to be established. We remain convinced that Cameroon is a State of law which cannot accommodate such an incredible affair, which is seriously contributing to the deterioration of the business climate and ruining investor confidence,” said MTN Cameroon.
