BEAC withdraws tea tycoon Baba Ahmadou Danpullo’s Nexttel mobile money service license

The Bank of Central African States (BEAC) has withdrawn Nextell’s license to own a mobile money service following its failure to launch the service on time, Business Cameroon reported.

Nextell, also called Viettel Cameroon SA, is a joint venture between Viettel Global Investment JSC, a Vietnamese state telecom company, and Bestinver Cameroun SARL, a Cameroonian company owned by tea mogul Baba Ahmadou Danpullo.

The telecom company partnered with UBA Cameron, a subsidiary of the Nigeria-based commercial bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA), to launch the mobile money service, Nexttel Possa. The BEAC approved the deal on March 12, 2018.

The partners were allowed up to six months to launch the proposed service. However, they had failed due to a leadership tussle among Nextell shareholders.

Bank of Central African States (BEAC)

BEAC is a central bank that serves six central African countries. They form the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa and include Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Baba Ahmadou Danpullo

Danpullo is the founder of Baba Ahmadou Group, a Cameroonian conglomerate that owns the Ndawara Tea Estate.

Ndawara is the largest privately owned tea estate in West Africa.

In addition to his stake in Nexttel, Danpullo owns a significant share in Marble Towers in Johannesburg, one of the tallest buildings in Africa.