PM Dion Ngute wades into MTN-Danpullo saga!.

The fresh glimmer of hope for a way out of the saga, follows an audience PM Dion Ngute granted the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, CEO of MTN Group, Raph Mupita, Saturday August 26, 2023, in South Africa. 

This was on the sidelines of the 15^th Summit of BRICS member countries, a grouping of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. 

PM Dion Ngute represented President Paul Biya at the summit which held August 22-24, in Sandton-Johannesburg, South Africa. 

The PM, had during the audience, assured the Chairman and CEO of MTN Group that Cameroon is a state governed by the rule of law, and that the issue of the freezing of MTN Cameroon accounts would be resolved in the near future. 

MTN Cameroon CEO hopes for brighter future 

In post on social media platform, X, formerly known as twitter, the CEO of MTN Cameroon, Mitwa Ng'ambi, said the meeting between her group CEO and PM Dion Ngute and his delegation was fruitful.

She said during discussions, her group CEO “shared the importance of Cameroon within the MTN Group portfolio”. 

"Cameroon is a key market for MTN Group. Our local operation, MTN Cameroon, is committed to the development of the digital economy of Cameroon. To this end, MTN has committed over the next three years, an investment of more than $200 million towards technology and network services, and $25 million towards strengthening the fintech business through the subsidiary Mobile Money Corporation," Mitwa Ng'ambi said. 

The MTN Cameroon CEO on the post, said PM Dion Ngute, during the discussions, “reassured the MTN delegation that the Cameroon government recognises MTN as a major player, not only in Cameroon but in the continent as well”. 

“On the issue of MTN Cameroon's bank accounts being garnished since September 2022, His Excellency [PM Dion Ngute] gave the guidance that the country [Cameroon] is entrenched in the rule of law and assured that the matter would be resolved speedily and fairly,” she added. 

PM Dion Ngute, cross section of his delegation with MTN Group officials after audience in South Africa 

What about Danpullo’s seized property?

What has, however, not yet filtered to the public is whether PM Dion Ngute, had used the audience with the MTN Group CEO to ask about the fate of Cameroonian business tycoon, El Hadj Baba Ahmadou Danpullo, whose property, valued at over 500 billion FCFA, was illegally seized in South Africa. 

Whatever be the case, analysts who trust in the crisis management savvy and levelheadedness of PM Dion Ngute, in handling issues that touch on Cameroon’s diplomatic ties with friendly countries, have remained optimistic. 

Many are now saying PM Dion Ngute will act as a mediator and broker peace in the long-running tussle between FNB/MTN Cameroon and Baba Danpullo fairly and quickly. 

The move by the PM, observers of the ensuing tussle are unanimous, if successful, will further lend credence to Cameroon’s hospitality and the fact that the country is a veritable investment destination not only in the CEMAC Subregion but in the entire continent. 

South African gov’t urged to make concessions 

Other observers of the tussle are also saying with a solution to the current crisis now in gestation, it is also wise for the South African government to act in good faith and in the spirit of African solidarity and brotherliness to see into it that not only the seized assets of Baba Danpullo are returned but that investments of other foreign investors are well protected in times of crisis with their local business partners. 

Those who hold this thought pattern are also reminding the South African authorities of the rules of reciprocity that govern diplomacy, noting that if the interest of Cameroonian investors are not protected in their country, it might also become difficult for that of their investors to be protected by the government at some point. 

Analysts say MTN, which has been seen as a victim since its accounts were frozen in Cameroon, is very close to the First National Bank and the Public Investment Corporation, and has all the means to get the bank to return the seized assets of Cameroonian business magnate. 

It is perhaps, on this score, that analysts are urging PM Dion Ngute, not to be taken in by what they describe as the “unfounded cries of MTN,” which is very close to the bank that seized Baba Danpullo’s property. Rather, they say he should use his position as a high-ranking government official to demand an accounting of what happened to the property of his compatriot, Baba Danpullo, in South Africa. 

Retracing the origin of ongoing tussle 

It should be recalled that the tussle between Danpullo and FNB Bank, started when the bank granted a loan to BESTINVER Company South Africa Limited, “which resulted in a significant misappropriation of assets from the consortium of BESTINVER companies, for which Baba Ahmadou Danpullo is the promoter in South Africa”. 

“Following a loan of 22 billion FCFA, of which Danpullo personally contributed 2 billion, obtained from First National Bank (FNB) for the purchase of a property in Cape Town by BESTINVER Company South Africa Limited, secured by a mortgage, with a repayment period of 10 years, the bank terminated the loan agreement and demanded immediate and full repayment of the credit. 

Despite having already made payments for three years and with seven years remaining, during which Baba Ahmadou Danpullo was deciding to repay the said credit, he not only saw his company subjected to a payment cessation procedure, along with the guarantors, but also faced forced liquidation through questionable procedures,” a source had recounted. 

“This can be justified by the refusal to accept that a foreigner and a person of African descent can own such significant real estate assets. Contrary to what certain press reports claim about Baba Ahmadou Danpullo's inability to repay the credit obtained from FNB, such claims were never an issue,” the source stated.

The source continued that: “Furthermore, it is incomprehensible that assets worth over 250 billion FCFA were seized for the recovery of 22 billion FCFA, as the guarantees provided to the bank were 200 times higher than the loan”. 

It should be recalled that FNB, in an action which observers said smacked of xenophobia, had seized and liquidated all of Baba Danpullo’s properties in South Africa, valued at more than 500 billion FCFA.

Sources close to Baba Danpullo had said, “considering the organised dispossession by First National Bank, the only recourse available to the requesting parties for the recovery of their claims is to pursue a conservatory seizure of debts on the accounts of the companies Mobile Telephone Networks Cameroon Limited (MTN CAMEROON SA) and CHOCOCAM SA to obtain what is rightfully theirs”. 

The source had noted that the freezing of the accounts of MTN Cameroon, according to Baba Danpullo, is “because these two companies have connections with FNB Bank”.

According to the source, South Africa-based, First National Bank, a subsidiary of First Rand Bank Ltd, in which Public Investment Corporation Ltd is a shareholder, “is also the majority shareholder of Mobile Telephone Networks Cameroon Limited (MTN Cameroon SA)”. 

Maneuvres by FNB

Our source had also disclosed that: “The parent company of First National Bank, First Rand Bank, employed various maneuvres with certain South African authorities, to unlawfully seize the entire real estate assets owned by Danpullo, estimated at a value of over 5 billion rands (250 billion FCFA). They have seized all of Baba Danpullo's assets, even those not related to the loan and of which they were aware”. 

“In fact, in 2013, BESTINVER Company South Africa Limited established a strong relationship with First National Bank (FNB), through the opening of multiple current accounts. Between 2013 and 2017, the significant financial transactions recorded in its bank accounts caught the attention of the bank, leading it to grant investment loans amounting to 615 million Rands consolidated in October 2017 (equivalent to 25 billion FCFA francs,” the source said. 

We had also gathered that First National Bank was particularly enticed by the monthly rental income generated by BESTINVER Company South Africa Limited, which amounted to 20 million Rands (800 million FCFA) from the substantial real estate portfolio, prompting the bank to provide it with banking facilities repayable over a ten-year period. 

“BESTINVER Company South Africa Limited consistently adhered to the agreed repayment schedule, with a monthly amount of 10 million Rands (capital + interest), equivalent to 400 million FCFA, until April 2020. By that date, First National Bank had already received 540 million Rands in rental income, equivalent to 21.6 billion FCFA,” the had source noted.

Our source continued that: “Despite BESTINVER Company South Africa Limited having approximately seven years remaining to fulfill its obligations, First National Bank, FNB, aided by its accomplices, namely the appointed liquidators and the South African justice system, demanded immediate and full repayment of the entire loan. 

“This strategy was aimed at unlawfully striping BESTINVER Company South Africa Limited of all its assets, primarily real estate, which were then improperly seized and sold at the discretion of the bank and its collaborators, in flagrant violation of the law, fairness, and banking debt recovery practices. To achieve this, FNB launched a violent, unprofessional, racist, xenophobic, and inhumane crusade against BESTINVER, subjecting it to suicidal and legally inadmissible conditions,” the source had declared.

This conditions, the source noted, included: “Demand for the signature of additional guaranteed documents unrelated to the original loan file, immediate and full repayment of credit lines amounting to several billion FCFA, immediate early repayment of an amount of 30,000,000 (Thirty Million) Rands, equivalent to 1,200,000,000 FCFA, as an advance payment for three installments on the ongoing loan, even though the due months had not yet arrived and demand for immediate and full early repayment of the residual balance of the various loan lines (550,000,000 Rands as of the end of April 2020, equivalent to 22,000,000,000 FCFA), despite the initial schedule still having 7.5 years remaining to fully settle the commitments”.