Benin: the court resolves a dispute over blocked transfers for two students abroad.

This is a case of blocked transfers that has just found its judicial conclusion in Cotonou. The Commercial Court ordered ORABANK Bénin SA to transfer to the two Beninese students the funds still available in their accounts, while rejecting the claims for damages made by all parties. The company ENERGY SARL, for its part, was ordered to pay the costs.

At the heart of this case is a contract signed between the two students and the company ENERGY SARL. This document provided for monthly transfers to be made for at least twelve months to finance their studies abroad. The bank ORABANK Bénin SA was responsible for carrying out these transactions.

Out of the twelve expected transfers, only one was reportedly made. However, the students claim that the entire amount had already been allocated by the bank. This blockage led them to seek legal redress, demanding 30 million CFA francs in damages, jointly charged to the bank and the company.

In court, each of the two parties blamed the other. ENERGY SARL claims to have fulfilled its obligations by making the provisions and obtaining bank attestations. ORABANK Bénin SA counters that these attestations did not constitute a permanent transfer order. According to the bank, each transfer required a separate instruction from the company, and only two such instructions were received.

The court upheld this interpretation. It ruled that none of the documents provided could be considered as an irrevocable transfer order, which prevented the bank from acting without new instructions. Due to the lack of demonstrated harm, all claims for compensation were therefore rejected.

However, the judges noted an unanswered fact: the amounts corresponding to the twelve monthly payments had indeed been allocated, and the unpaid balance had never been returned to the company. It was on this basis that the court ordered the bank to return the available amounts to the students.