Mtn Cameroon Wins Court Appeal To Release Seized Assets

A court order froze MTN Groups Cameroon accounts containing 14 billion francs R432-million in September 2022.

The seizure threatened the operations of the Cameroon subsidiary of Africas largest mobile carrier, which has one of the biggest networks in the central African country with around 15 million users.

The dispute over a real estate loan involves Cameroonian business mogul Ahmadou Baba Danpullo, the owner of Bestinver Group companies, and South Africas First National Bank.

After FNB liquidated a number of properties belonging to Danpullo in South Africa, the businessman retaliated by having a Cameroonian court freeze the accounts of South African companies including MTN.

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.