In a major development, YUP Cameroon, a subsidiary of the French bank Société Générale specializing in Mobile Money, has been officially placed in liquidation. The decision was made during an extraordinary general meeting held on December 29, 2023, following the company’s financial troubles since 2022. The renowned financial expert, Manfred Penda, sworn in near the courts of Littoral and Adamaoua, has been appointed as the liquidator, according to a recent public statement.
The decision to liquidate YUP Cameroon stemmed from its deteriorating financial situation, rendering the company no longer profitable. A public note reveals that the general assembly, after reviewing the reports of the board of directors dated March 1, 2022, and the auditor’s report on the annual financial statements as of December 31, 2022, which indicated that the company’s equity was below its share capital, approved the reports and decided on the early dissolution of the company through an amicable liquidation.
YUP Cameroon ceased its operations in the country in 2022, and at that time, only 22,332 out of 689,071 accounts were active, constituting a mere 3.35% of the total. Disturbingly, more than 96% of the accounts opened with YUP Cameroon were inactive. The data from the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) Banking Commission revealed that during February 2022, YUP recorded 163,867 transactions with a cumulative amount exceeding 11 billion FCFA. This figure pales in comparison to the country’s average of 133 million monthly transactions in Mobile Money during 2022, with a monthly value averaging 1,434 billion FCFA.
As the appointed liquidator of YUP Cameroon, Manfred Penda is mandated to represent the company in all liquidation activities. The Uniform Act of the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA) governing commercial companies and economic interest groups outlines his responsibilities. Penda is authorized to settle outstanding debts with creditors and distribute the remaining assets among shareholders. However, he is restricted from initiating new business activities without judicial authorization, solely for the purposes of liquidation.
The duration of the liquidation process has not been disclosed, but according to Article 216 of the OHADA Uniform Act, “the liquidation must be concluded within a period of three years from the dissolution of the company.” Penda is obligated to convene a shareholders’ meeting within six months of his appointment to report on the company’s situation.
Manfred Penda, an Essec graduate, serves as the managing partner of Fred & Associés Solutions. He brings valuable experience from his previous roles at the Société sucrière du Cameroun (Sosucam) and the Société camerounaise des Palmeraies (Socapalm), where he held positions as the director of administration and control management and director of control management, respectively.
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert. As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard.