A start-up ascent that captured Brazzaville’s imagination
When Jonathan Yanghat launched Noki-Noki with two motorbikes and a minimalist mobile interface, the venture epitomised the promise of Central African tech. Within a brief span, the company declared capital raises approaching two million United States dollars, positioning itself as a regional pioneer in on-demand logistics across Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Local business forums praised the founder’s boldness, and investment decks circulated in regional accelerators as case studies of home-grown ingenuity.
Such narratives resonated with policymakers in Brazzaville, who routinely underscore the importance of small- and medium-sized enterprises for economic diversification. The Government’s digital-economy road-maps list logistics innovation among priority clusters, and the swift commercial adoption of Noki-Noki’s application seemed to validate those projections. Against that backdrop of expectation, the abrupt announcement of a criminal inquiry in August 2025 sent palpable shock waves through the entrepreneurial community.
Tracing the monetary conduit from banking hall to delivery hub
Investigators allege that Ferida Mbonzo, employed by BGFI Bank Congo and identified as the partner of Yanghat, channelled more than one billion CFA francs from client deposits into Noki-Noki’s operating accounts (judicial sources quoted in local press, 2025). The funds were reportedly redirected over multiple tranches, coinciding with the start-up’s highly publicised territorial expansion.
The alleged mechanism has drawn heightened attention because Mbonzo is the grand-daughter of Jean-Dominique Okemba, longstanding Chairman of BGFI Bank Congo’s Board. Yet case documents reviewed by journalists emphasise that the transactions were not authorised by the Board, and that no systemic loophole has been spotted so far. The couple, along with Yanghat’s executive assistant, has been placed in pre-trial detention in Brazzaville pending formal charges. Legal analysts note that Congolese financial legislation allows the prosecution to request extended custody where the integrity of banking records must be preserved.
BGFI Bank’s communiqué: isolating responsibility, affirming resilience
On Saturday, 30 August 2025, BGFI Bank Congo issued an unusually detailed communiqué intended to reassure its clientele and international correspondents (official BGFI Bank communiqué, 30 August 2025). The text stresses that the alleged misappropriation is strictly individual, that the employee involved “assumes full criminal and professional liability,” and that no systemic breach has been detected by internal auditors.
The statement meticulously distances the matter from any presumed family leverage, underlining that the Board Chairman “has at no stage defaulted on his obligations to uphold laws, standards, and regulations.” By highlighting Jean-Dominique Okemba’s decades-long stewardship—described as characterised by “rigour, loyalty and commitment”—the bank seeks to put to rest speculation about governance lapses. Executives also flag existing compliance protocols, including multi-signature validations and automated red-flag alerts, portraying the institution as both robust and cooperative with authorities.
Regulatory backdrop and the role of state oversight
Congo-Brazzaville’s financial sector operates under the regional framework of the Central African Banking Commission (COBAC), whose prudential benchmarks are harmonised across the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa. Sources at the Ministry of Finance remark that inspectors from COBAC routinely conduct on-site examinations and that any confirmed irregularity triggers additional scrutiny. While the present affair remains confined to the investigative domain, officials privately contend that the incident demonstrates the utility of layered oversight rather than its failure.
From a diplomatic vantage point, Brazzaville has sustained dialogue with multilateral lenders concerning banking modernisation. Observers expect those channels to remain active, with the Government likely to highlight BGFI’s swift public disclosure as evidence of a maturing compliance culture. There is therefore little indication that the episode will chill ongoing negotiations with development partners over digital-finance inclusion programmes.
Ripples across the fintech ecosystem—and a measured optimism
Noki-Noki’s predicament inevitably reverberates through the wider start-up circuitry in Central Africa, where capital raising often hinges on personal networks and reputational signals. Several incubator managers in Douala and Pointe-Noire concede that investor due diligence may tighten, yet they also anticipate beneficial side-effects: stronger accounting standards, earlier board constitution and enhanced separation between founders’ personal assets and operational cash flow.
For Brazzaville, the priority remains to preserve confidence in formal banking while nurturing the fledgling digital economy. Commentators note that authorities have so far refrained from public statements, leaving room for judicial independence. As the case proceeds, the combination of a transparent investigatory process and BGFI Bank’s proactive stance could ultimately reinforce perceptions of institutional resilience. In that light, the saga of Noki-Noki—though unquestionably sobering—may still contribute to the maturation of Congo’s entrepreneurial landscape rather than signal its demise.