Battle for control in Viettel Cameroon

Baba Danpullo insists on double signature principle and clamp down on illegal Vietnamese workers

According to internal sources, the Mobile Operator Viettel Cameroon which operates in Cameroon under the Trade Mark Nexttel is quasi divided into two camps of shareholders. The first camp is made up of those who support Baba Ahmadu Danpullo the Cameroonian Billionaire who controls 30% of the capital of Nexttel through Bestinver Cameroon SA while the second camp is made up of supporters or sympathizers of Viettel Global Investment S.A. a Telecommunication group under the umbrella of the Vietnamese Ministry of Defense which owns 70%.

The origin of this battle between the two shareholders of Nexttel, centers on the refusal of the leaders of Viettel Global Investment SA to establish the principle of the double signature.  Bestinver Cameroon SA, also accuses the Vietnamese side of massively importing labour, to the detriment of Cameroonians who would be marginalized by the majority shareholder.

In response to these accusations, the Vietnamese group issued a statement on October 1, 2018 to deny what it referred to as "false information". "Viettel Global Investment SA and its Cameroonian subsidiary, Viettel Cameroon SA, are committed to the interests of Cameroonians, bringing in advanced technologies and expertise in telecommunications management, creating jobs, while respecting Cameroonian laws and regulations, "said Do Manh Hung, CEO and legal representative of Viettel Global Investment SA.

The Vietnamese group further stated that "among the 1,000 employees working at Viettel Cameroun SA, Cameroonians represent 94% of the workforce and the management team is composed of 85% of Cameroonians. Vietnamese employees work side by side with their local colleagues and try to train and transfer technology to local employees."

 However, the request for a double signature principle is something the Vitamese have not yet argued away. This request comes in a bid to guarantee stricter and a more exposed financial control and its refusal by the Vietnamese camp still hangs tauntingly in the air begging for reasons why such a request should not be granted.  

As events unfold, a Cameroonian Newspaper Le Soir has published an article titled “These are the 56 Vietnamese who illegally occupy posts that should be occupied by Cameroonians.” This article ties with the earlier claim that droves of Vietnamese job seekers are illegally employed in Nexttel.  As the crises deepen, the Vietnamese state has insisted that the security of its employees in Cameroon should be assured. It should be noted that Viettel Cameroun SA, has experienced spectacular growth since the beginning of its activities four years ago. In the first half of 2016, Cameroon became the first market of the Viettel Group in Africa, with global revenues of 21 billion CFA francs (35.9 million US dollars), against 25 million US dollars for Halotel ( Viettel's Tanzanian subsidiary), $ 33 million for Movitel in Mozambique and $ 18.26 million for Lumitel (Burundi). In addition, at the end of June 2018, Nexttel claims nearly 5 million subscribers, against 6.6 million for MTN Cameroon and 6.5 million for Orange Cameroon, two competitors that arrived on the Cameroonian mobile market, 15 years earlier.The spectacular success of the company many observers have said could be the core of the problem resulting into the need for each party to have greater financial control. Nexttel's performance, which is likely to further sharpen shareholders' appetites, was made possible by a strategy of penetrating the market by covering previously neglected rural areas. The same is true of the investments that enabled this company to build "the largest telecommunications infrastructure in the country, with 2,500 2G / 3G stations and 8,000 kilometers of fiber optic cables.

By Francis Ekongang Nzante

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