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Checklist

Before you trade, check seven things.

For a buyer, supplier or partner anywhere in Africa. Each check has free places to look and the red flag that should stop you.

0 of 7 checked

  1. It is registered, and the record is current

    Where to look
    The national company registry. Match the legal name, number and status to the invoice and the contract. Registry guides by country.
    Red flag
    The name on the invoice isn't the registered name, or no record exists.
    Konexium
    Reads the GLEIF register for every company, plus the national register in ten countries (Angola, Benin, Botswana, Ghana, Lesotho, Seychelles, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Zambia), and alerts you if a watched company's register status changes.

  2. It has a real place of business

    Where to look
    Its own website, a map listing, and the address on its registration.
    Red flag
    Only a free webmail address, a website a few weeks old, or an address that is a home or a virtual office.
    Konexium
    Verify reads its site and quotes it.

  3. It does what it says it does

    Where to look
    Its own pages first, then independent ones: trade-fair exhibitor lists, chamber member lists, industry associations.
    Red flag
    Every description of the company comes from the company.
    Konexium
    Find and Verify quote the page behind each fit.

  4. It is active now

    Where to look
    Dated news, tenders and contract awards, job ads, recent posts.
    Red flag
    Nothing dated in the last six months.
    Konexium
    Radar and Ask date every finding.

  5. There is no trouble on record

    Where to look
    Search its name with “liquidation”, “insolvency”, “fraud” and “court”. Check the UN sanctions list, OFAC search and the World Bank's debarred firms.
    Red flag
    A winding-up notice, a debarment, or news of an investigation.
    Konexium
    Screens the name daily against the OFAC, UN, EU, UK, Canadian and Australian sanctions lists and debarments by five development banks (World Bank, AfDB, ADB, EBRD, IDB), and Ask puts any report of closure, insolvency or investigation first.

  6. You are dealing with the right person

    Where to look
    Find the person on the company's own site or official channels, and call the number the company publishes, not the one in the email.
    Red flag
    Bank details changed by email, or a payee that isn't the company.
    Konexium
    Reach shows the people named on the company's own pages.

  7. You know who owns it

    Where to look
    A beneficial-ownership register where the country publishes one, and the LEI register for larger companies.
    Red flag
    Ownership you can't trace, or a chain of offshore companies.
    Konexium
    Not automated. Use the sources on the left.

Faster

Six of the seven, in one question.

Name the company. Konexium reads its registry, site and recent record, and links every finding to its source.

Ask
“Is Safaricom PLC a real, active business in Kenya?”
You get
What it does, recent activity and any trouble, each with its source and date.
Not stated
Said plainly, never filled in.

Questions

About the checklist.

Do I need all seven for a small order?

The first five take minutes and catch most problems. Check the person and the bank details every time money moves.

Is any of this paid?

Every source named here is free to search. Some registries charge for a full extract; the guides by country say which.

What does Konexium do for me?

It runs the first six checks for a company you name and links each finding to its source. Questions are free, and new accounts get 1,500 credits.

Run the checks on a company now.

Check free