Posted On 20 November, 2022

Some years ago I was contacted in London by a company in Nigeria. They claimed to be manufacturing (GRC) Glass Reinforce Concrete and wanted to expand their industry and market and looking for a foreign manufacturer in the same sector to partner with.

They had an impressive website. Our company did some due diligence but found no sign of scam.

Then we started looking for international manufacturers who would like to expand their business into African market. We found a company in South Wales and travelled there to have a meeting with them. The company was interested to partner with the Nigeria manufacturer especially due to Africa huge market, cheap labour, available raw material, etc. Having found a United Kingdom’s prospective partners, I thought closing the deal will be a slam dunk. It was not. 

Instead of inviting the Nigeria partners to London or Wales, I decided to visit them in Nigeria first, with little notice given to them. Although I could have asked our agent in Nigeria to do this but due to the importance I attached to this enquiry I decided to go personally. This visit was necessary because a tour of their facilities could determine the line of negotiation with them. Upon arrival, I checked into a hotel near to the purported factory’s building address in their website. When I reached the address, I saw a different factory name. I went in and enquired about our client factory and name. The result was negative! 

Well I went back to my hotel and phoned the Nigerian man. He picked my phone call but when I told him that I had visited the address in their website but did not see him or the factory, he just dropped the phone on me. I was at the wrong end of a scam! Now, the questions are; what if they had arranged a meeting outside the so-called factory? My safety could have been at risk. What if they had arranged the meeting in my hotel, making sure I do not visit the purported factory? I would not have known their intentions. 

These are not limited to China, India or Africa. It happens all over the globe. We have been able to avoid scam activities for our clients in different countries. Global Partners Africa Ltd exists to work as your Consultants.

 Finally I must state that the World is a Global Village and such vices must not affect where we choose to do business rather, prevention is better than cure. The international businesses must continue to flourish in the Global Village as long as companies give us opportunity to protect them.