Cameroonian Abdoulaye Mouchili has been appointed as the country representative for Ernst & Young (EY) in Cameroon and Chad on April 1. With a rich background of more than 20 years in auditing across four countries, including experience at EY in Canada, Mouchili is described by his peers as a highly experienced professional.

He steps into the role following the interim leadership of Erik Watremez, who was appointed at the end of 2023 amid a dispute between EY Global and its then-Cameroon country director, lawyer Joseph Pagop Noupoué. This internal conflict led Pagop to rename Ernst & Young Cameroon Sarl and ECA Ernst & Young Cameroun S.A. to ECA Tax & Legal and ECA S.A., respectively. Since then, a struggle over the assets of ECA Ernst & Young Cameroun, including its clientele, has ensued between the two factions.

Despite the ongoing legal battle, Mouchili’s appointment as country representative is poised to provide reassurance to both the 120 EY employees in Cameroon and the local clients who have been caught in the crossfire of this dispute. Among them are major companies such as BGFIBank Cameroon, Société Générale Cameroun, MTN Cameroon, Chococam, UBA Cameroon, and the Cameroonian subsidiaries of Globeleq (KPDC and DPDC).

This conflict prompted the Board of Directors of the Bank of Central African States (Beac) to “authorize Ernst & Young Congo to carry out the certification of Beac’s accounts for the 2023 and 2024 fiscal years” instead of EY Cameroon. This was during an extraordinary session on February 29 in Yaoundé.

Source: Business in Cameroon