Business in Cameroon | About 40 employees of the Cameroonian airline Fly ZeJet are struggling. In a petition sent on January 9, 2025, to the company’s shareholders, they voiced their distress over the difficult living conditions they have endured since the airline suspended operations on April 30, 2024. The suspension resulted from a dispute among shareholders. The employees are also calling for Fly ZeJet to resume flights, highlighting the airline’s “encouraging performance” since its launch.
“It is unacceptable to keep employees in extreme hardship by withholding their salaries for over eight months. Each employee has a family to feed, children to educate, and personal obligations to fulfill. The situation is even more critical as the new year begins. On May 22, 2024, the Board of Directors, through the Chairman, asked employees to support the new management. Since then, employees have worked in good faith and with patience, hoping for positive outcomes. However, it has become clear that shareholders and the Board of Directors care little about the employees’ well-being, prioritizing other interests,” stated the employees in their petition.
The dispute stems from a leadership change within the company during a board meeting on April 5, 2024. Christophe Semengue, Fly ZeJet’s founder and a former Air France executive, who owns 37.5% of the airline, was removed as CEO and replaced by Constant Max Mve Minsi. This decision was communicated in a memo dated April 26, 2024, signed by the Chairman of the Board, Célestin Nana Tchouankam.
Semengue challenged his dismissal in a statement on May 16, 2024, describing it as an “ambush board meeting” orchestrated by “a group of directors with undisclosed motives.” He pointed to the representatives of Global Trade Corporation Sarl (GTC Sarl), a company that acquired 50% of Fly ZeJet’s assets in February 2021. GTC Sarl is owned by Christian Mataga, a businessman reportedly close to Franck Biya, the son of Cameroon’s President.
The third shareholder, holding 12.5% of the airline, is Cameroon’s National Social Insurance Fund (CNPS). However, the public pension fund has not actively intervened in the dispute. Fly ZeJet began operations in April 2023, and by December 31, 2023, the airline had already generated CFA1.2 billion in revenue. The company aimed to double that figure in its second year. Yet, differences between the two main shareholders surfaced before the airline could complete its first year of operations.
Sources close to the matter reveal that the conflict centers on the airline’s positioning in the market relative to Camair Co, Cameroon’s national carrier. While Semengue intended to establish Fly ZeJet as a competitor to Camair Co, GTC Sarl reportedly preferred a partnership with the national airline. This partnership would include leasing or even selling Fly ZeJet aircraft to Camair Co.