Cameroon’s Supreme Court has restored an order requiring a local bank to block 140bn CFA francs (€236mn) tied to MTN Cameroon’s Mobile Money business, reviving the four-year Danpullo MTN dispute with the billionaire Baba Ahmadou Danpullo.
The ruling carries a penalty of 50mn CFA francs (€84,500) for each day the order is not carried out, RFI reported on 12 November. MTN had not been reported to respond to the decision at the time of writing.
What did the Supreme Court decide in the Danpullo MTN case?
The decision that has drawn most attention re-establishes the obligation on a local bank to freeze the money, RFI said. Ecomatin named the bank as Afriland First Bank. Those details come from that outlet and were not independently confirmed.
A separate Supreme Court decision, published in early November, moved the litigation to Ebolowa, the regional capital of the South, RFI said. The cases will be heard by the Ntem court of first instance and the South court of appeal. Ecomatin dated the order 28 October.
The Caisse des dépôts et consignations, Cameroon’s public deposit institution, is following the case and wants the seized funds to be kept in custody, according to RFI.
Where does the Danpullo MTN dispute come from?
The conflict began outside Cameroon. Danpullo, often described as the country’s richest man, holds investments in South Africa through his Bestinver group. After he defaulted on a loan from First National Bank (FNB), South African courts ordered the sale of several of his buildings, RFI said.
Danpullo challenged those sales in Cameroonian courts in 2022 and had the bank accounts of MTN Cameroon and of the chocolate maker Chococam, a subsidiary of South Africa’s Tiger Brands, seized. His argument was that the companies share an institutional shareholder with FNB, South Africa’s Public Investment Corporation, the state-owned asset manager.
A court of appeal in the coastal Littoral region annulled earlier seizures in February 2025, according to the Financial Afrik website. MTN Cameroon has contested the seizures in court throughout. The restored order concerns money held for the company’s mobile money operations, which customers use for payments and transfers, so any freeze raises questions about how that business is funded. Neither the court documents nor MTN’s account of the effect on its services have been seen by DNE Africa.
What does Danpullo’s side say?
Danpullo’s lawyer told RFI the latest rulings were “a great victory for us”, but that “the fight will continue at Ebolowa”, where he hopes for the definitive conviction of MTN (translated from French). That is one party’s view. The competing view of MTN Cameroon has not been published in the reporting reviewed.
What happens next?
The files now move to Ebolowa. In parallel with the courts, Cameroon’s authorities are continuing diplomatic talks with Pretoria to seek an overall settlement, RFI reported. The country is also heading for elections in February 2027, and mobile money is a large part of the payments system, as DNE Africa has reported in its coverage of mobile subscriptions across the continent.
FAQ
What is the Danpullo MTN dispute?
The Danpullo MTN dispute is a four-year court fight in which businessman Baba Ahmadou Danpullo had MTN Cameroon’s accounts seized in 2022 over a South African loan dispute involving a shared investor.
How much money is frozen in the Danpullo MTN case?
The Supreme Court restored an order to block 140bn CFA francs (€236mn) linked to MTN Cameroon’s Mobile Money activities, with a 50mn CFA franc daily penalty for delay.
Where will the Danpullo MTN case be heard now?
A Supreme Court decision moved the cases to Ebolowa, in the South region, to the Ntem court of first instance and the South court of appeal.
