How Oil and Gas Transactions Work in West Africa: Payment Terms, Banking Instruments etc...
Why suppliers want cash at delivery and buyers need deferred LCs, and what licensed companies with financial capacity do to bridge the gap between international sellers and West African state entities.
Common Mistakes International Fuel Suppliers Make in West Africa
Why bank confirmation discretion gets misread as bad faith, why government payment cycles rule out sight payment, and why track record and price matter more here than in other markets.
Purchasing Petroleum Products in Benin: The DPB Tender Process and What International Suppliers Need to Know
The agrément system under Decree 2023-423, the annual government appel d'offres, why a local registered partner is required, and how the Cotonou port corridor works in practice.
SONABHY and How Burkina Faso Secures Its Fuel Supply
SONABHY's procurement model: international tenders, the Cotonou, Lomé, and Tema corridors, coastal depots, the new Péni infrastructure, and how oil companies engage with the Burkinabè market.
How to Verify an African Gold Supplier
Trading licence through the issuing authority, company registration cross-check, bank account consistency rule, export history via customs, AML screening, and why a legitimate supplier is indifferent to thorough verification.
Common Gold Trading Scams in Africa: What They Look Like and How to Avoid Them
INTERPOL's Operation Red Card 2.0: 651 arrests, 1,247 victims, USD 45 million in losses. Five fraud patterns documented with real cases, and the protective measures that distinguish legitimate transactions from sophisticated imitations.
Gold Export Documentation: What Each Document Is, Why It Exists, and What to Check
Export permit, assay certificate, tax clearance, certificate of origin, customs declaration, AML pack: what each confirms, who issues it, how to verify it, and why the consistency check across all six matters more than reviewing each in isolation.
Ghana GoldBod: Buying Gold Under the 2025 Regulatory Framework
Act 1140 replaced the PMMC era entirely on 1 May 2025. All prior licences are invalid. The three legal routes for international buyers, how the self-financing aggregator licence works, and what verification looks like under the new framework.
How Gold Export from Tanzania Works for International Buyers
The Mineral Dealer's Licence, the ~9.4% effective tax burden unpacked component by component, the Bank of Tanzania domestic programme (4% royalty, waived inspection fee, 24h payment), and the Finance Act 2025 local processing obligation.