Grace Ashiru
In a significant turn of events, YUP Cameroon, a mobile money subsidiary of French banking giant Société Générale, has been declared officially in liquidation. This decision came to light during an extraordinary general meeting on December 29, 2023, marking a conclusion to the company’s financial challenges since 2022. Financial expert Manfred Penda, who has taken oaths near the Littoral and Adamaoua courts, has been named the liquidator, per a recent official announcement.
The move to liquidate YUP Cameroon was driven by its worsening financial health, which concluded that the company could no longer sustain profitability. Details from a public announcement highlighted that the general assembly, upon reviewing the board of directors’ report from March 1, 2022, and the auditor’s examination of the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022, found the company’s equity to be lower than its share capital. This led to the approval of the reports and the decision to dissolve the company ahead of schedule, opting for a friendly liquidation process.
In 2022, YUP Cameroon concluded its operations, revealing that only 22,332 of its 689,071 opened accounts were used, accounting for 3.35% of the total. This indicates that 96% of YUP Cameroon’s accounts remained dormant. According to data from the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) Banking Commission, YUP saw 163,867 transactions in February 2022, totaling more than 11 billion FCFA. This amount is significantly lower than the national average for Mobile Money transactions in Cameroon during 2022, which stood at 133 million monthly transactions, with a monthly turnover of 1,434 billion FCFA.
Manfred Penda has been designated as the liquidator for YUP Cameroon, overseeing all aspects of the company’s liquidation process. Under the Uniform Act of the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA), which governs commercial companies and economic interest groups, Penda’s duties include paying off the company’s debts to creditors and allocating any remaining assets to the shareholders. His authority is limited to these functions, and he is not permitted to undertake any new business ventures unless he obtains judicial approval specifically for liquidation purposes.
The timeline for completing the liquidation process remains unspecified. However, according to Article 216 of the OHADA Uniform Act, the process should be finalized within three years following the company’s dissolution. Penda must organize a meeting with the shareholders six months after his appointment to provide an update on the company’s status.
Manfred Penda, who earned his degree from Essec, is the managing partner at Fred & Associés Solutions. His extensive experience is drawn from his previous roles at Société sucrière du Cameroun (Sosucam) and Société camerounaise des Palmeraies (Socapalm), where he served as the director of administration and control management, and as the director of control management, respectively.
