Cameroon opens MTN’s frozen bank accounts after three years
Cameroon
,
02 Apr 2025
MTN Cameroon scored a victory in the Central African country, as the Littoral Court of Appeal in Doula lifted a garnishee order placed on the telco's bank accounts by the Bestinver group of companies.
Cameroon's largest telecoms operator revealed the development on Tuesday evening, saying in a statement that the court unanimously decided – on 24 February – that the Bestinver group of companies was not entitled to impose these garnishees, which it had done since September 2022. MTN Cameroon received its final order in March 2025.
MTN Cameroon said it welcomes the decision “affirming the legitimacy of its defence and restoring its rights”.
For almost three years, MTN had not been able to access its bank accounts, worth over $23 million, over a matter not related to the telecoms provider.
MTN and its banking partners were served with a garnishee order at the request of a business tycoon with strong government connections, Ahmadou Baba Danpullo, who owns Bestinver companies.
The matter emanates from an ongoing case in the South African High Court involving Danpullo’s South African company, Bestinver Holdings, and First National Bank.
In the matter, FNB, which was owed R507 million by Danpullo’s companies, launched applications for the winding-up of the companies, and on 19 June 2020, the companies were placed in provisional business rescue; on 26 October 2020, the order was made final.
In response, Danpullo cried foul, alleging discrimination, as his real estate portfolio reportedly valued at R4 billion was liquidated for the R507 million owed to the bank.
FNB denied the allegation, saying the move was strictly a normal business decision to recoup monies owed to the bank.
Danpullo then approached courts in his home country and was granted garnishee orders on MTN accounts, claiming it is a subsidiary of the Public Investment Corporation, which he says is also a shareholder in FNB.
At the time, Africa’s largest telecoms provider said: “MTN Cameroon firmly contests the garnishment of its bank accounts, that it considers as abusive, fraudulent and unacceptable, given that MTN Cameroon has no relation whatsoever with either Bestinver group of companies, Mr Danpullo or the said South African bank.”
The telco told reporters that neither FNB nor the Public Investment Corporation are shareholders of MTN Cameroon.
Then CEO Mitwa Ng'ambi said: “We see the seizure of MTN Cameroon’s accounts as abusive and nothing more than an attempt to access funds that legitimately belong to us.”
As MTN Cameroon celebrated its court victory over Bestinver yesterday, the telco said: “We are grateful to our customers and partners for their trust during this process, assuring them our commitment to creating share value.”
MTN Group has already committed $225 million to strengthen its operations in Cameroon.
Group CEO Ralph Mupita made the announcement in August last year, during a meeting with Cameroon’s prime minister Joseph Dion Ngute, and his delegation, on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit, in Johannesburg.
MTN said it is also interested in investing in future technologies, such as 5G, and is committed to ensuring more fair connection across the country by improving rural connectivity.