An investigation published this week by Techpoint Africa has exposed a significant gap in how Nigeria's two largest food delivery platforms verify the businesses operating on their systems. Using a fictitious restaurant identity, a made-up tax identification number, a false address, and stolen photographs from a real Lagos eatery, Techpoint's team successfully onboarded onto both Glovo and Chowdeck, completed mandatory training, and fulfilled an actual customer order. Neither platform flagged the fraudulent listing at any stage of the process.

The investigation raises serious questions about the Know Your Business frameworks both platforms currently operate, and what that means for the millions of Nigerians placing food orders and trusting that the merchant on the other side of the screen is who they say they are.

How It Happened

The investigation revealed that onboarding a restaurant onto Nigeria's major food delivery platforms requires less verification than opening a basic bank account. The process was completed using fabricated information that was never cross-checked against official business registration databases or tax authority records. Photos lifted from a legitimate restaurant's social media page were accepted without question. The fictitious business passed through training modules designed to prepare restaurant partners for operations and was approved to take live orders.

The platforms' verification gaps create a multi-directional fraud risk. Fake restaurants can collect payments for orders they never intend to fulfil, harvest customer data through the ordering process, or operate as fronts for money laundering through inflated order volumes.



The Wider Trust Problem

Nigeria's food delivery market has grown rapidly over the past four years, driven by rising smartphone penetration, the expansion of digital payment infrastructure, and changing urban consumption habits. Glovo and Chowdeck have both invested heavily in rider networks, customer acquisition, and logistics technology. But the investigation suggests that investment in merchant verification has not kept pace.

For legitimate restaurant operators, the reputational damage from operating alongside fraudulent listings is real. A customer who receives a poor experience from a fake restaurant does not always distinguish between the fraudulent merchant and the platform that listed them. That erosion of trust falls on everyone in the ecosystem.

Both platforms will need to implement significantly more robust KYB processes, including real-time verification against Corporate Affairs Commission records, BVN-linked merchant identity checks, and physical address validation, if they are to maintain the consumer confidence that their business models depend on.