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CAMEROON · MTN GROUP
Key Facts
- —The country Cameroon is a Central African economy of about 29 million people, where phones are a main way to send and receive money.
- —What happened MTN MoMo earned 11.6 billion CFA francs (about US$19.8 million) in bank interest in Cameroon in 2025, reported on 15 October 2026.
- —The numbers Customer money held in banks stood at 280 billion CFA francs (about US$478 million) on 31 December 2025.
- —The rival Orange Money Cameroon earned 9.9 billion CFA francs (about US$16.9 million) on 193 billion CFA francs (about US$330 million).
- —The rules Regional law bars mobile money firms from lending customer money but lets them keep the bank interest.
- —The company MTN Cameroon belongs to MTN Group, listed in Johannesburg; see the MTN Group company profile.
- —Still open The report does not say how much of the interest MTN keeps as profit.
MTN Cameroon’s mobile money arm MoMo, part of the South African telecoms group MTN, earned 11.6 billion CFA francs (about US$19.8 million) in 2025. The money is bank interest on customer cash that the firm must keep in bank accounts and may not lend out.
The figures come from a report of Cameroon’s National Economic and Financial Committee, published on 2 October 2026. For US readers, they show how a payments business in Central Africa earns money from the cash that flows through phones.
What the Report Shows
The National Economic and Financial Committee is a Cameroonian state body that tracks the country’s money flows. Its 2025 report, released on Friday 2 October 2026, lists the interest that mobile money firms receive on accounts holding customer funds.
Orange Money Cameroon and MTN Cameroon MoMo together declared 21.5 billion CFA francs (about US$36.7 million) in interest. MTN took 11.6 billion CFA francs (about US$19.8 million) of that sum, and Orange Money took 9.9 billion CFA francs (about US$16.9 million).
How MTN Cameroon MoMo Holds Customer Money
When a customer loads cash onto a mobile wallet, the money stays the customer’s property under a 2018 regional rule. The rule comes from the Central African Economic and Monetary Community, the six-country bloc that shares the CFA franc.
The firm must place the money in a dedicated bank account by the next day and cannot use it for loans. The bank pays interest on that account to the payment firm, not to the customer.
At the end of 2025, MTN Cameroon MoMo held 280 billion CFA francs (about US$478 million) in such accounts. Orange Money held 193 billion CFA francs (about US$330 million), so the two held 473 billion CFA francs (about US$808 million) in all.
Which Banks Hold MTN MoMo Funds
The report, citing data from the regional banking supervisor COBAC, spreads the money across several banks. CCA Bank holds 58.5 billion CFA francs (about US$99.9 million), and Afriland First Bank holds 53.9 billion CFA francs (about US$92 million).
Access Bank holds 49.3 billion CFA francs (about US$84.2 million), and a line labelled AFB Bank shows 47.5 billion CFA francs (about US$81.1 million). UBA holds 36.4 billion CFA francs (about US$62.2 million), and Ecobank holds 34.5 billion CFA francs (about US$58.9 million).
Interest rates on the MTN MoMo accounts run from 4.35% to 6.5%. Afriland First Bank and Access Bank each pay 5.5%.
Who Paid the Most Interest
The largest payment to MTN Cameroon MoMo came from the AFB Bank line, at 2.4 billion CFA francs (about US$4.1 million). Access Bank followed at 2.3 billion CFA francs (about US$3.9 million).
UBA paid 1.9 billion CFA francs (about US$3.2 million), and Ecobank paid 1.4 billion CFA francs (about US$2.4 million). The report gives no average balances, so the yield on each account cannot be worked out.
The Gap Between Funds and Customer Balances
The 280 billion CFA francs (about US$478 million) in bank accounts covered 229.3 billion CFA francs (about US$391 million) received from users. That is a coverage of 122%, or a gap of 50.7 billion CFA francs (about US$86.6 million).
At Orange Money the gap is 30.7 billion CFA francs (about US$52.4 million). In total, the two firms hold 81.4 billion CFA francs (about US$139 million) above customer balances.
The Court Fight Over MTN Cameroon Funds
Since 2022 MTN Cameroon has fought Bestinver Group, owned by Ahmadou Baba Danpullo, which froze accounts holding about 14 billion CFA francs (about US$23.9 million). On 24 February 2025 the Littoral Court of Appeal ruled that Bestinver was not entitled to impose the seizures, Business in Cameroon reported.
In December 2025, the state Deposit and Consignment Fund suspended forced recovery on an MTN mobile money pool account at Afriland First Bank. That account held about 120 billion CFA francs (about US$205 million).
MTN Group’s 2025 accounts show court-restricted cash in Cameroon of 67 million rand (about US$4 million). A year earlier it was 141 million rand (about US$8.5 million), Business in Cameroon reported on 4 October 2026.
What It Means for US Readers
MTN Group is a large listed emerging-market telecoms stock, and MTN Cameroon MoMo shows that mobile money brings income beyond call and data fees. Investors can use these figures to judge how much of that income is bank interest on client cash.
The numbers also show regulatory exposure, because interest rules, court orders and bank concentration can change what a mobile money arm keeps. US payments firms active in Africa face the same question about who owns the interest on customer balances.
What Is Not Known
The report does not say how much of the 11.6 billion CFA francs (about US$19.8 million) MTN keeps as profit. It also gives no reference period for each bank’s payment, since the balances are year-end positions.
No source links the 67 million rand (about US$4 million) of restricted cash to a named case. It is also unclear whether the AFB Bank line is the same bank as Afriland First Bank.
More: Cameroon news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much interest did MTN Cameroon MoMo earn?
MTN Cameroon MoMo earned 11.6 billion CFA francs (about US$19.8 million) in declared bank interest in the report for 2025. That is slightly more than Orange Money’s 9.9 billion CFA francs (about US$16.9 million).
What is MTN MoMo?
MTN MoMo is the mobile money service of MTN Cameroon, run by the company Mobile Money Corporation Cameroon. It lets people store money on a phone, send it to others and pay bills.
Can MTN lend out customer money?
No, regional rules say customer funds must stay in dedicated bank accounts and cannot finance loans. The banks pay interest on those accounts to the company.
Who published the figures?
They appear in the 2025 report of Cameroon’s National Economic and Financial Committee, released on 2 October 2026. The news site Investir au Cameroun reported them on 15 October 2026.
Is this MTN Group’s own result?
No, the figures come from a state committee report that uses data from the regional banking supervisor. MTN Group, listed in Johannesburg, publishes its own results separately.
Sources: Investir au Cameroun, 15 October 2026; Business in Cameroon, 4 October 2026; Business in Cameroon, 17 December 2025.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief
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