MTN plans to invest over $200 million (over FCFA 120 billion at current dollar value) in technology and network services in Cameroon over the next three years.
Over the same period, it wants to invest $25 million (more than FCFA15 billion) to enhance its fintech business in the country, through Mobile Money Corporation. The investments were announced by MTN Group CEO, Ralph Mupita, after an audience granted, on August 26, 2023, to MTN Group executives by Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute, on the sidelines of the 15th BRICS Summit (August 22-24) in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Previous information had it that in 2023, telecom operators MTN, Orange, and Camtel committed to investing FCFA156 billion to improve service quality in Cameroon this year. Earlier this year, Orange announced it would invest FCFA150 billion in the country over five years. For 2023, it committed FCFA30 billion. However, there is no information on how much MTN plans to invest this year.
Ralph Mupita’s statement comes at a time when MTN is lobbying for the lifting of the seizure of its bank accounts, which have been blocked since September 2022, in the framework of a court case involving Cameroonian business mogul Baba Danpullo. The seizure of MTN Cameroon’s bank accounts (estimated at nearly FCFA144 billion FCFA, including nearly FCFA120 billion from the Mobile Money deposit account) had serious consequences for the company. In the first half of 2023, for example, it had to borrow FCFA91.5 billion to finance its activities.
Under these conditions, can MTN Cameroon still achieve its three-year investment plan? “We say we’re here to contribute [to development] and we have long-term plans. Give us the right conditions…” says a senior company official. This implies that the Danpullo affair could thwart the operator’s plans. Nevertheless, Prime Minister Dion Ngute assured MTN’s executives that the matter would be resolved quickly and fairly, MTN Cameroon reveals. For the time being, the case is going from appeal to appeal.
Frédéric N