MTN Group has warned that its operations in Cameroon are in jeopardy over a dispute in which it claims to play no part.
Reuters reports that MTN Cameroon’s assets were frozen by a local court in September 2022 on the order of local businessman Ahmadou Baba Danpullo, as a result of a dispute between Danpullo and South Africa’s First National Bank (FNB) regarding a real estate loan.
The bank liquidated several South African properties owned by Danpullo, prompting him to retaliate in part by having a Cameroonian court freeze the accounts of several South African firms – among them MTN. The move was described by Melvin Akam, MTN Cameroon’s general manager of regulatory and corporate affairs, as being “abusive, fraudulent and unacceptable.”
MTN Cameroon CEO Mitwa Ng'ambi said that, following a decision by a domestic court on 9th June, these funds would be transferred into an escrow account managed by the court registrar. Ng'ambi described the asset freeze as a “miscarriage of justice” and noted it had caused numerous issues with paying employees as well as other service providers.
