The cold war is raging between the shareholders of Viettel Cameroon S.A. The joint venture controlled by Vietnamese Viettel Global Investment Company to the tune of 70% and BestCam by promoter Baba Ahmadou Danpullo to 30% through a creeping crisis.
The cause of unease, the intention of the influential Cameroonian billionaire to want to take control of the company operating the brand Nexttel by administrative and judicial maneuvers. Ahmadou Danpullo claims to his partners 98 billion FCFA corresponding to what he would have spent in procedures and various for the allocation of 2G and 3G licenses to Viettel. The request was sent to Vietnamese via the Vietnamese Embassy in China and Nigeria.
The Vietnamese side who deplores “fanciful claims” said to have made the bulk of investments. “Indeed, until December 31, 2017, Viettel Global Investment SA, has successfully invested FCFA 201 billion (305 million euros) in its Cameroonian subsidiary in the form of private equity (share capital, shareholder loans). and other types of commercial media.
Creeping OPA
Already, the birth of the joint venture in December 2012 had given rise to a long standoff over the distribution of shares and management of the company. A few months after the start of the company, Viettel’s former general manager, Vu Khanh Duy, saw himself as a target of a fierce press campaign. In 2015, Vietnamese, employees of the company, his expelled or deprived of work permits. In September 2018, the Vietnamese partners sent a letter to Cameroonian President Paul Biya.
In this correspondence of which Financial Afrik has a copy, Viettel Global denounces the maneuvers of its “local partner using the services of the State which lend themselves very oddly, to circumvent the normal rules of business management for the sole purpose of making hand on our investment.
It should be noted that last August, a Cameroonian court (Bonanjo Douala) granted signing authority, contrary to the provisions of the OHADA, the PCA (ie to Ahmadou Danpullo) concurrently to the DGs and DG-Deputy .
Most recently, the current general manager of the company and legal representative of Viettel Global Investment SA, DO Manh Hung, has cracked a long press release (October 1, 2018) to denounce “false information currently broadcast on the group and its joint venture based in Cameroon. ”
And to continue: “Among the 1,000 employees working at Viettel Cameroon S.A., Cameroonians represent 94% of the workforce and the management team is made up of 85% of Cameroonians.
Neither Amadou Danpullo, PCA of Viettel Cameroun SA, much less Moïse Bayi, were reachable despite several reminders of our writing.
As a reminder, the operator’s subscriber base reached 4.5 million customers in 2018, coming close to the Orange and MTN duo, the market leader. A commercial success that fuels many appetites at the risk of blackening the business climate in Cameroon.
