A dispute over a real estate loan that left operator MTN Cameroon unable to get its hands on over US$20 million worth of assets may finally be over.
After a wait of nearly two and a half years, and following an appeal, a Cameroon appeals court has ordered the release of MTN's bank accounts in the country. These were seized in 2022, apparently over a loan dispute with a Cameroonian businessman.
A court order froze MTN Group's Cameroon accounts containing 14 billion CFA francs (about US$23.20 million) in September 2022.
The dispute is said to be over a real estate loan. It involves Cameroonian business mogul Ahmadou Baba Danpullo, the owner of Bestinver Group companies, and lender South Africa's First National Bank (FNB).
After FNB liquidated a number of properties belonging to Danpullo in South Africa, the businessman was somehow able to convince a Cameroonian court to freeze the accounts of a number of South African companies. These included MTN, whose network in Cameroon has around 15 million users. The other major players in the country are Orange Cameroon, Nexttel Cameroon (a venture between Viettel Group and Danpullo’s Bestinver Cameroon) and Camtel.
Reuters explains that in 2023 MTN Cameroon said its funds were to be transferred into an escrow account managed by the court registrar as part of a third party debt, or "garnishee", order related to the dispute.
After an MTN appeal a court ruled on 24 February that the Bestinver Group companies were not entitled to impose these seizures.
That said, one of Danpullo's lawyers has said he plans to make a new attempt to seize the assets and is following legal procedures to obtain an enforcement order.
