(Business in Cameroon) – Cameroon’s Deposit and Consignment Fund (CDEC) has decided to suspend forced recovery measures targeting MTN Cameroon accounts held at Afriland First Bank, in connection with the “Bestinver case.” The decision followed a tripartite meeting held on November 12, 2025, between the CDEC, MTN Cameroon, and Afriland First Bank, attended in person by MTN Cameroon chief executive officer Wanda Matandela.
In a letter addressed to the parties, CDEC managing director Richard Evina Obam said: “I have the honor to inform you, in light of the operational and legal elements presented by all parties, that I agree to the full suspension of the forced recovery measures issued by the CDEC and targeting the Mobile Money Pool Account recorded in the books of Afriland First Bank.” The funds concerned amount to about CFA120 billion.
The CDEC has, however, made the suspension conditional on cooperation from the credit institutions involved, particularly Afriland First Bank. The bank has seven days to submit a “complete and truthful” declaration of the funds seized or placed under escrow in connection with MTN operations. Once this step is completed, the CDEC will issue new recovery notices excluding the Mobile Money Pool Account, to allow the effective transfer of the relevant sums to its own account.
At the same time, the CDEC reminded the institutions concerned that “funds transferred to the CDEC as judicial consignations will be returned upon first request in accordance with the provisions of Article 6, paragraph 1, of Decree No. 2023/08500/PM of December 1, 2023, setting the terms for the transfer of funds and assets assigned to the Deposit and Consignment Fund.”
A dispute rooted in the Danpullo–MTN litigation
The CDEC’s involvement stems from the dispute between businessman Baba Danpullo and MTN Cameroon. The institution was brought into the case by the telecom operator, which is challenging interim court orders appointing the chief clerk of the Douala-Bonanjo court as custodian of the seized funds.
According to MTN, these orders breach Cameroon’s legal framework governing deposits and consignations. Under Articles 3(1), 5(2), and 6 of the April 14, 2008 law, the management of judicial deposits, consignations, and sequestrations falls exclusively under the authority of the CDEC, which holds a legal monopoly in this area. By contesting the June 9, 2023 order issued by Judge Nicole Eyango Dibobé Epoupa, MTN asked the CDEC to intervene to confirm that only this public body is authorized to receive and manage the seized sums in the case.
In submissions dated June 22, 2023, filed with the Enforcement Defense Chamber of the Littoral Court of Appeal, the CDEC, led by Richard Evina Obam, explicitly supported MTN Cameroon. “The interim order for which a stay of execution is sought clearly violates the law,” said the CDEC’s lawyer, challenging the appointment of the chief clerk of the court of first instance as custodian.
The CDEC is therefore opposing the placement, outside its control, of nearly CFA144 billion seized in several banks, including CFA120 billion from MTN’s Mobile Money Pool Account, an account described as immune from seizure. It has asked the Littoral Court of Appeal to order a stay of execution of the contested ruling and to reaffirm its legal monopoly over judicial consignations.
In a letter dated November 28, 2025, addressed to the chief executive officer of Afriland First Bank, Richard Evina Obam requested the bank to provide a full and truthful declaration of the remaining funds, now estimated at CFA6.241 billion belonging to MTN, and to transfer them to the CDEC account. This transfer must include late-payment penalties of CFA782.5 million, calculated in line with Article 7, paragraph 4, of Decree No. 2023/08500/PM of December 1, 2023 governing transfers of funds and assets to the CDEC.
In total, the CDEC is claiming CFA166 billion from Afriland, along with about CFA4 billion in penalties, while now excluding the Mobile Money Pool Account from enforcement measures. The suspension of forced recovery represents major relief for MTN Cameroon, whose Mobile Money services have become central for millions of households, traders, and businesses. Without this decision, the risk of operational disruption to the mobile payment system was significant.
This development marks a key step in a case combining regulatory stakes, judicial pressure, and the stability of Cameroon’s mobile payment system. It also refocuses the proceedings on respect for the CDEC’s legal monopoly over judicial consignations, a prerogative often reaffirmed but contested in this dispute.
Amina Malloum
