Wave Appoints Joël Bertrand Ndjodo, Former MTN Executive, to Lead Cameroon Operations
This move signals Wave's intention to leverage local expertise to challenge established players like MTN and Orange.
Fintech unicorn Wave has officially entered the Cameroonian market, marking a significant strategic expansion into Central Africa’s competitive mobile money sector. The company has appointed Joël Bertrand Ndjodo, a seasoned mobile money expert with over a decade of experience at MTN Cameroon, as its new country manager. This move signals Wave’s intention to leverage local expertise to challenge established players like MTN and Orange.
Strategic Partnerships and Competitive Pricing
Wave’s entry is made possible through a partnership with Commercial Bank Cameroun (CBC), which holds the necessary e-money license. This collaboration allows Wave to operate under the bank’s authorization, approved by the regional banking commission COBAC in June 2025, and offer a full range of services including deposits, withdrawals, transfers, and bill payments.
The company is renowned for its disruptive pricing model, which features a flat 1% transfer fee and free cash withdrawals. This strategy has proven successful in other markets like Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire, where it has prompted competitors to lower their fees. In a preemptive move, Orange Cameroon has already responded by reducing its withdrawal fees, indicating that a pricing battle is imminent.
A High-Growth Market with Unique Challenges
Cameroon’s mobile money sector is experiencing explosive growth, with transaction volumes surging by 162% to reach $43 billion between 2019 and 2023. The country accounts for over 70% of all mobile money activity in the six-nation CEMAC bloc. However, Wave’s entry is not without its risks, as it must contend with a 0.2% tax on mobile money transactions and a deeply loyal user base of its competitors.
The expansion is supported by a recently secured $136 million debt facility, providing Wave with the financial resources to scale its operations quickly and navigate early market pressures. The company aims to learn from past failures of other ventures, such as Société Générale’s YUP, by relying on a local-first approach and a proven business model to gain traction.
