Cameroon mobile operators owe gov’t 176 bln CFA- Report

Cameroon Telecommunications (CAMTEL), French giants Orange and South Africa’s Mobile Telecommunication Networks (MTN) owe the Cameroon government 176 billion FCFA in unpaid taxes, fees and fines, the National Anti-Corruption Commission (CONAC) announced in a report issued on Tuesday.

CONAC in its findings noted that several illegal practices and other malpractices from those operators, also involved in repeated violations of the laws and conventions that regulate the sector.

Newcomer to the market, Vietnam’s Viettel is pinned for going under the trade name Nexttel locally without amendment to the concession agreement linking them to the Cameroonian State.

CONAC also denounced the laxity of the Telecommunications Regulatory Agency (ART) and called for the sector to be made accountable.