On 29 May, the Ministry of Humanitarian Action and National Solidarity of Burkina Faso announced that it had assisted 22 young Burkinabè who were victims of QNET in Ghana. According to the news site lefaso.net, this illicit migration network had been operating from Ghanaian territory. The young people were deceived by acquaintances who promised them jobs and various benefits. In the end, they found themselves trapped by QNET, a company known for its dubious practices.
24heures.bf reported the bitter testimony of one victim: “Once we arrived in Ghana, everything changed. We were forced to join a system we didn’t understand. We had no other options because we had already paid.”
On June 11, 2025, the case took a new turn. The Prosecutor of Faso at the Ouaga I High Court and Interpol announced at a press conference that nine (9) individuals have been identified as suspected perpetrators of human trafficking, fraud, unlawful confinement, and extortion – all as part of a pyramid scheme known as QNET, according to lefaso.net. The website reports that these nine individuals were placed under arrest warrants and detained at the Ouagadougou Remand and Correctional Facility (MACO) on May 26. Their trial is scheduled for June 17.
According to lefaso.net, several tactics were used to lure the young victims into QNET’s trap: promises of joining a football club, attractive job offers in Canada or the United States… However, all of this turned out to be false. Once in Ghana, the victims were confronted with reality: methods were implemented to extract money from their families while presenting them with a deceptive situation. The victims were denied all means of communication. The site also states that those who refused to participate in QNET’s activities were robbed, locked in a three-room house with other victims and cut off from all outside contact.
The total loss exceeds 33 million FCFA.
On July 10, 2024, Burkina Faso officially banned QNet from its territory, urging the public to remain vigilant and cautious. Authorities expressed hopes of engaging young people in the fight against migration-related scams.In January 2025, the gendarmerie arrested 14 individuals accused of using QNet to defraud Burkinabè citizens, according to 24heures.bf. The victims – 160 in total and of various nationalities – suffered estimated losses amounting to 80 million FCFA.
