The private airline Fly Zejet is embroiled in a conflict between its founder and other shareholders over a possible rapprochement with the national carrier.

Is the national carrier Camair-Co behind the row which has thrown its new rival Fly Zejet off kilter? For the past year, this small airline has been embroiled in a dispute between shareholders in which the larger airline appears to be playing a central role.

The simmering crisis at Fly Zejet boiled over during a meeting of the board of directors on 5 April when the company’s founder Christophe Semengue, whose father is the well-known general Pierre Semengue, was ousted as managing director and replaced by Max Constant Mve Minsi.

Christophe Semengue contested this decision, which was backed by board member Christian Mataga, a Cameroonian businessman who is said to have close ties with Franck Biya, President Paul Biya’s son. Mataga acquired a 50% stake in Fly Zejet via his firm GTC Sarl in 2021.

Flights on demand
In December 2022, the Cameroon Civil Aviation Authority granted Fly Zejet the air operator’s certificate it needed to operate its fleet of three Embraer 145 aircraft, acquired in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. But this green light also created competition for Camair-Co, which was under considerable financial strain at the time and did not take kindly to a new rival on the market.

To get around this situation, Fly Zejet initially decided to operate flights on demand, in part through a contract with the Bank of Central African States (BEAC). Its airplanes have also been used by the president of Equatorial Guinea Teodorin Obiang and the Central African Republic leader Faustin-Archange Touadéra, who flew in a Fly Zejet aircraft to act as a facilitator for the Economic Community of Central African States in Gabon following the coup led by General Brice Clotaire Oligui NGuema. 

Despite Fly Zejet’s promising start, throughout the past year Mataga has tried to forge a closer relationship with Camair-Co in the form of a lease, or even a transfer, of Fly Zejet’s aircraft to the national airline. Semengue opposed this proposal, suspecting a convergence of interests between Camair-Co and Fly Zejet’s partners. His concerns appear to have been reinforced when Mataga blocked a round of funding worth €500,000 at the end of last year.

Since being ousted by the board of directors in April, Semengue has been trying to challenge this decision before the Administrative Court in Yaoundé. Mataga and Semengue did not respond to Africa Intelligence’s requests for comment.