LAGOS, July 19 – Cameroonian businessman Baba Ahmadou Danpullo unveiled plans to invest 500 billion CFA francs (approximately $900 million) to establish a new private airline and construct two privately owned airports, in what could become the largest privately financed aviation project in Central African history.
The investment, equivalent to around 92% of Danpullo’s estimated 547 billion CFA franc fortune, according to Forbes Africa, underscores the scale of the entrepreneur’s commitment to transforming air transport across the region.
The project will see the launch of Danpullo Air Line, alongside the construction of new airports in Yaoundé and Douala. Construction of the first airport in Yaoundé is scheduled to begin in September, with commercial flight operations targeted for 2030.
If completed as planned, the development would make Cameroon the first country in Central Africa to host a major privately owned airline supported by privately built airport infrastructure, rather than relying on a state-owned national carrier.
The initiative comes as Central Africa continues to face significant aviation connectivity challenges. Despite the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) comprising six member states sharing a common currency and a combined population exceeding 60 million people, direct air links between member countries remain limited. Travellers frequently transit through Europe or West Africa when flying within the region because of the shortage of direct routes.
Danpullo’s strategy seeks to address this gap by initially connecting all 10 regions of Cameroon before expanding services across the wider CEMAC bloc, which includes Gabon, Chad, the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea and the Republic of the Congo.
Unlike most African airline start-ups, which typically lease aircraft and operate from existing airports, Danpullo’s project combines airline operations with the construction of entirely new airport infrastructure. The approach significantly increases the project’s capital requirements while adding construction, regulatory and operational execution risks.
Industry analysts note that the investment also reflects broader structural challenges facing infrastructure financing in Central Africa, where domestic capital markets remain relatively shallow and large-scale infrastructure projects often struggle to attract diversified institutional funding.
Danpullo, whose business interests span agriculture, telecommunications and commercial real estate, is making one of the largest single private infrastructure commitments ever undertaken by an African entrepreneur. His portfolio includes Ndawara Tea Estates, a major stake in mobile operator Nexttel, and extensive commercial property holdings in South Africa.
The investment also follows legal disputes involving some of Danpullo’s overseas assets. In 2022, South African authorities seized assets linked to the businessman in a dispute over a loan, prompting renewed attention to the allocation of African private wealth into domestically anchored infrastructure assets.
Despite the project’s potential, significant commercial challenges remain. Once operational, Danpullo Air Line is expected to compete with established international carriers including Air France, Brussels Airlines, Turkish Airlines and Royal Air Maroc, all of which already operate established services into Cameroon.
Questions also remain over financing arrangements. While reports indicate the project could ultimately attract private investors and international lenders alongside Danpullo’s own capital, details of any syndicated financing have yet to be announced.
Beyond aviation, the project is widely viewed as a test of whether large-scale private capital can help close critical infrastructure gaps across Central Africa. Its success or failure could shape future investment approaches in transport infrastructure while highlighting the growing role of African private capital in financing strategic development projects.
