Vietnamese, Cameroonian shareholders bury hatchet to reposition Nexttel
Shareholders of Viettel Cameroon SA have ended a long-drawn-out internal management tussle which has significantly stifled growth of the company.
Viettel Cameroon SA operates under the brand name Nexttel. It is a joint venture between Viettel Global Investment Joint Stock Company (a subsidiary of Vietnam military telecommunications company - Viettel) and Bestcam, owned by Cameroonian business mogul El Hadji Baba Danpullo.
“After nearly four years of divergence between the shareholders of Viettel Cameroon SA against the backdrop of management issues, the problematic situation which plagued the functioning of the company, the two major partners of Viettel Cameroon have found a consensus for the greater interest of the mobile operator,” said Moussa Ousseini, Communications Director of Baba Danpulo Group, parent company to Bestcam.
Company officials offered little detail and said only that the resolution is the culmination of several rounds of mediation, joint consultations and conciliations.
The move will work in the interest of employers and shareholders as company officials are keen to reposition Nexttel in the market. The MNO currently maintains the third position in a market of four, behind MTN Cameroon and Orange Cameroun.
Following the end of the crisis, Viettel Cameroon will continue with investments in infrastructure as well as other projects which had been stalled. The management crisis had delayed the company’s roll out of its mobile money solution called “Possa” until the banking regulator eventually withdrew its licence.