10 richest Cameroonians business groups

Cameroon’s private sector is powered by founder-led conglomerates built by the country’s richest entrepreneurs.

From tea plantations in the highlands to telecom networks, breweries, banks and seafood trading giants, a small circle of self-made tycoons controls businesses that employ tens of thousands and supply essential consumer goods across the CEMAC region.

Unlike Silicon Valley tech fortunes, these fortunes were built through logistics, agriculture, import substitution and financial inclusion, sectors critical to emerging markets. Many began as traders, transporters or civil servants before scaling vertically into manufacturing and services. Their companies now dominate domestic markets where multinationals once held near monopolies.

Collectively, they underpin Cameroon’s food security, beverage supply, retail banking penetration and mobile connectivity. Banks finance SMEs, breweries support agriculture supply chains, while agro-industrial firms stabilize food prices. Several also expanded into Chad, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Congo, making them regional economic actors rather than purely national champions.

Their rise also reflects a broader African business pattern: family ownership, reinvestment of profits and gradual diversification. While political risk and currency volatility persist, succession planning and regional expansion suggest these groups will remain central to Central Africa’s industrialization for decades.

These 10 richest Cameroonians, chronicled by Shore Africa, oversee business empires spanning banking, telecoms, agro-industry, cement manufacturing, cocoa exports and consumer goods distribution.

1. Baba Ahmadou Danpullo
Group founded: Baba Ahmadou Group
Founded in 1976, the Baba Ahmadou Group is a diversified conglomerate spanning tea production, telecoms, real estate and logistics across Africa and Europe. Danpullo rose from truck driver to Cameroon’s richest man, building flagship assets including Cameroon Tea Estates and a major stake in Nexttel. With vast real estate holdings in South Africa and expanding port operations in Central Africa, his empire reflects disciplined diversification and long-term industrial ambition.

2. Paul Fokam Kammogne
Group founded: Afriland First Group
A pioneer of indigenous banking in Francophone Africa, Fokam founded Afriland in 1987 and built it into one of the region’s most influential financial institutions. With a dominant market share in deposits and lending in Cameroon, the bank finances SMEs often overlooked by global lenders. Now operating across several African countries, Afriland drives financial inclusion through banking, microfinance, insurance and digital expansion.

3. Colin Ebarko Mukete
Group founded: Spectrum Group
A leading figure from the influential Mukete dynasty, Colin Ebarko Mukete built a diversified empire spanning telecommunications, media and advertising. He played a key role in bringing MTN Cameroon to the country in 2002 and chaired its board until 2024, retaining a significant stake. Through Spectrum Group, which owns Spectrum Television, he remains a dominant force in Cameroon’s media and corporate advertising landscape.

4. Nana Bouba
Group founded: Nana Bouba Group
Nana Bouba leads one of Cameroon’s most influential agro-industrial conglomerates, spanning edible oil refining (Azur), soap, tomato paste, beverages, meat processing and nationwide retail under Bel Achat supermarkets. In 2023, he launched Société de Transformation des Oléagineux du Cameroun (STOC S.A.S) to expand into oilseed processing and curb palm oil imports. With his sons overseeing key subsidiaries, Bouba is strengthening succession while consolidating dominance in food production and distribution.

5. Sylvestre Ngouchinghe
Group Founded: Congelcam S.A.
From selling fish at Yaoundé’s Mvog Mbi market in 1982 to founding Congelcam in 1994, Ngouchinghe built Cameroon’s dominant frozen fish distributor, controlling nearly 80 percent of the market and employing over 2,000 people. The company plays a vital role in food security and cold-chain logistics nationwide. A senator since 2018, he also donated CFA250 million to Cameroon’s COVID-19 solidarity fund in 2020.

6. Alain Nkontchou
Group founded: Enko Capital
Alain Nkontchou is a Cameroonian private equity investor and co-founder of Enko Capital, an Africa-focused asset manager established in 2008 with his brother Cyrille Nkontchou. Based in London and Johannesburg, Enko manages alternative and traditional investment funds across frontier African markets. Through his private vehicle, Bosquet Investments Ltd, he acquired a significant stake in Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, where he served as chairman from 2020 to 2024, strengthening governance and capital markets access.

7. Kate Kanyi-Tometi Fotso
Group founded: Telcar Cocoa Ltd
Cameroon’s richest woman, Kate Fotso, leads Telcar Cocoa, the country’s largest cocoa exporter, controlling over 30% of national output. Worth an estimated $252 million, she transformed the firm into a global supplier through a strategic partnership with Cargill. Telcar has distributed billions of CFA francs in farmer bonuses while promoting sustainability and training thousands in ethical cocoa production, cementing its legacy as a dominant force in African agribusiness.

8. Emmanuel Peughouia
Group Founded: Quifeurou Group (also referred to as Groupe Quifeurou)
Emmanuel Peughouia has become a key player in Cameroon’s industrial scene, particularly as the first local investor in the country’s cement manufacturing industry. Hailing from Bansoa in Western Cameroon, Peughouia commenced his business venture with a hardware shop in Bafoussam, ultimately establishing the Quifeurou group, a network of hardware stores functioning throughout Cameroon, Chad, and the Central African Republic. In 2015, he collaborated with Turkey’s Eren Holding to create Medcem Cameroon, a cement factory launched in December 2016 in Douala. This partnership merged Eren Holding’s cement production knowledge with Peughouia’s vast experience in distributing construction materials, representing a notable achievement in industrial investment in Cameroon.

9. Kadji Defosso Family
Group founded: Union Camerounaise de Brasseries
The Kadji family built a major domestic brewery competing against global brands. Their beverage production supports local barley and maize farming while maintaining strong national distribution.

10. Andre Sohaing Family
Group founded: Real estate holdings
The Sohaing family accumulated wealth through large-scale real estate development and commercial leasing. Their assets remain influential in urban commerce and political-business networks.