Top management of QNET, a leading wellness and lifestyle direct selling company, has made a passionate call for the development of a Direct Selling Act and the establishment of a Direct Selling Association in Ghana to help regulate the industry and minimise the activities of fraudsters deceiving innocent people and robbing them of their hard-earned money.

The call was made at a special press conference organised by QNET on the sidelines of the ongoing 2025 VCON event in Malaysia. Eight seasoned journalists from Nigeria, Ghana, Togo, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Liberia were invited by QNET to attend the VCON in Malaysia.

Chief Marketing Officer for QNET, Trevor Kuna, Chief Legal Officer for QNET, Nikhil Patel, Group Chief Communications Officer Ramya Chandrasekaran and Global Compliance Officer for QNET, Naana Quartey, unanimously chorused the need for regulation within the direct selling industry in Africa, especially in Ghana and Nigeria.

“As it stands, South Africa is the only country in Africa that has a Direct Selling Association. The World Federation of Direct Selling Associations is very stringent about how countries can establish a local branch of the association. Direct Selling companies need to comply with a set of rigid rules and conditionalities before they are approved to be members of the Association in any country,” Kuna explained.

“With a Direct Selling Association or Act in place, all stakeholders operating within the industry will know and understand their responsibilities. Customers will know their rights and limitations, companies will be protected against frivolous claims by some customers, there will be an established rule of engagement backed by law and it will help sanity to prevail over the market,” Patel explained further.

“One of the key reasons the direct selling industry is suffering from misrepresentation and gross misinformation is because the rules are not well laid out in fine print. There is a lot of ambiguity and it is hurting the brands operating in the industry, especially in Ghana, Nigeria and other parts of West Africa. A Direct Selling Act will spell out the rules and prescribe appropriate punishment to any party that contravenes it,” Chandrasekaran pointed out.

QNET is constantly battling the nefarious activities of people who brazenly defraud others by promising them fake jobs, visas, scholarships and non-existent better life outside the shores of their countries. Personal economic and household hardships make it easy for scammers to convince unsuspecting members of the public that they hold the key to an overnight solution to their woes.

In Ghana, QNET, after many years of engagements and consultations, has finally secured nods for partnerships and collaborations with the Economic and Organised Crime Office, EOCO and the Criminal Investigation Department of the Ghana Police Service. This, Naana Quartey believes, is in the right direction and will help intensify QNET’s public and media education awareness programmes and campaigns across the country.

“We are one of the few committed players in the direct selling industry in Ghana, that is expending resources, time and energy to fight misinformation and change the negative narratives that have permeated the industry,” Quartey concluded.