Cameroonian billionaire Baba Danpullo's fight with MTN Cameroon drags on

The amount of MTN Cameroon's cash tied up by court orders fell by more than half last year, according to MTN Group's annual accounts, as the telecom operator's long legal fight with companies owned by Cameroonian billionaire Baba Ahmadou Danpullo continued.

MTN Cameroon's restricted cash linked to court proceedings fell to 67 million rand at the end of December 2025, from 141 million rand a year earlier, Business in Cameroon reported, citing MTN Group's financial statements. At an indicative exchange rate of 34.95 CFA francs per rand, that is about 2.34 billion CFA francs, down from 4.93 billion. The drop amounts to 74 million rand, or 52.5%.

The decline over two years is even steeper. The restricted amount stood at 471 million rand, about 16.46 billion CFA francs, at the end of 2023, which means it has fallen by about 86% since then.

MTN describes the money as tied to "garnishee orders of ongoing court cases," which allow creditors to seize assets that a third party holds on behalf of a debtor. The group does not name the cases or the creditors involved, and it does not explain why the amount has fallen.

A dispute that began in South Africa

The best-known of those cases involves Bestinver, the group owned by Danpullo. The dispute began between his companies and South Africa's First National Bank, after the bank moved against several of his properties in South Africa over a loan. Danpullo's companies later went to court in Cameroon and obtained orders freezing MTN Cameroon's bank accounts.

In September 2022, a Cameroonian court order froze MTN Cameroon accounts holding about 14 billion CFA francs, according to Reuters. On Feb. 24, 2025, the Littoral Court of Appeal ruled that Bestinver's companies were not entitled to impose the seizures, and MTN said it received the final order in March 2025.

That ruling did not end the fight. One of Danpullo's lawyers told Reuters afterward that he would make another attempt to seize the assets.

A much larger sum in escrow

The dispute later grew to involve far larger amounts. In October 2025, Cameroon's Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, the state body that holds funds under legal dispute, demanded the transfer of about 126 billion CFA francs held in escrow at Afriland First Bank in connection with the Bestinver case.

Most of that money, about 120 billion CFA francs, sat in MTN's Mobile Money pool account, which holds deposits on behalf of customers of MTN's MoMo mobile wallet service. MTN's accounts treat those deposits separately from its own cash and record a matching liability to customers.

In a Nov. 28, 2025, letter, the deposits agency said other amounts belonging to MTN Cameroon totaled 6.241 billion CFA francs, and asked Afriland First Bank to declare and transfer them. In December, the agency suspended enforcement measures against the Mobile Money pool account.

MTN Group's results for the first half of 2026 give no update on the 67 million rand. The group now reports the Cameroonian figure inside a single line that also includes other cash and investments, so it is no longer possible to see from its accounts how much remains frozen by the courts.

One of several fights with foreign partners

The MTN case is one of several long legal battles Danpullo is fighting with foreign companies. He is also locked in a dispute with Vietnam's Viettel Group over control of Nexttel, Cameroon's third mobile operator, which the two sides own together. In August, Viettel wrote to President Paul Biya asking the government not to recognize any new shareholders in the company without its consent.

Danpullo built his fortune in property, telecoms and cattle ranching, and is one of Central Africa's best-known businessmen. Both of his telecom disputes remain unresolved.