Terms of Service

1. About NearAfrica

NearAfrica is a business discovery and directory platform designed to help people discover businesses, services, organizations, and opportunities across Africa.

NearAfrica may allow users to search and browse business listings, view business information and locations, submit businesses, claim listings, submit reviews, report inaccurate information, request corrections, request removal of information, and interact with other features introduced by NearAfrica.

NearAfrica may add, modify, suspend, or discontinue features at any time.

2. Acceptance of These Terms

By using NearAfrica, you confirm that you have read these Terms, understand them, agree to comply with them, and are legally permitted to use the service.

If you are below the age at which you can independently enter into a binding agreement under applicable law, you should use NearAfrica with the involvement or permission of a parent or legal guardian where required.

3. Changes to These Terms

NearAfrica may update these Terms from time to time. When material changes are made, NearAfrica may provide notice through the website or another reasonable method.

The updated Terms will become effective on the date stated in the updated version.

Your continued use of NearAfrica after the effective date of an updated version constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms to the extent permitted by applicable law.

4. Business Directory Information

NearAfrica may display information obtained from business owners, representatives, users, publicly available information, open data sources, legitimate third-party sources, and information gathered or submitted through NearAfrica.

Information may include business names, categories, descriptions, addresses, contact information, websites, social media information, photographs, logos, geographic coordinates, reviews, and other information relevant to discovering or contacting a business.

NearAfrica does not guarantee that all information is complete, current, accurate, or error-free. Business information can change after it has been published.

5. No Automatic Endorsement

The presence of a business, organization, product, service, or other entity on NearAfrica does not, by itself, mean that NearAfrica endorses, recommends, guarantees, certifies, owns, operates, or is affiliated with that entity.

NearAfrica does not guarantee the quality of a business's products or services, its financial condition, licensing status, regulatory compliance, or conduct.

Users should independently evaluate a business before entering into a transaction or relying on information displayed on the platform.

6. Listing Statuses

Unclaimed

An Unclaimed listing means that NearAfrica has not accepted a claim from a business owner or authorized representative for that listing.

An unclaimed listing does not mean that the business is illegitimate or inactive.

Claimed

A Claimed listing means that NearAfrica has accepted a claim submitted by a person who has represented themselves as the business owner or an authorized representative.

A claimed status does not constitute government certification, professional accreditation, safety certification, or general endorsement.

Verified

A Verified listing means that NearAfrica has completed a verification process applicable to that listing.

Verification does not guarantee that a business is safe, financially sound, properly licensed for every activity, legally compliant in every respect, or suitable for a particular user.

NearAfrica may change, suspend, or remove a listing's status when appropriate.

7. Business Claims

A person may submit a request to claim a business if they are the owner or an authorized representative.

NearAfrica may request evidence reasonably necessary to evaluate the claim.

A person must not:

• Impersonate a business owner.
• Submit false ownership information.
• Claim a business without authorization.
• Submit fraudulent documents.
• Manipulate the claim process.
• Attempt to obtain control of another person's business listing.

NearAfrica may approve, reject, suspend, or revoke a claim.

A successful claim does not transfer ownership of the underlying business, trademark, copyright, domain name, or other intellectual property.

If a dispute exists regarding ownership or authority, NearAfrica may temporarily restrict changes to the listing while the matter is reviewed.

8. User-Submitted Information

Users may submit business information, reviews, photographs, claims, reports, corrections, and other material.

By submitting information, you represent that:

1. The information is accurate to the best of your knowledge.
2. You are not knowingly submitting false or misleading information.
3. You have the right or authorization necessary to submit the material.
4. The submission does not knowingly violate another person's rights.
5. The submission does not knowingly violate applicable law.
6. You will not use NearAfrica to deceive, defraud, harass, impersonate, or harm another person.

NearAfrica may review, modify, reject, restrict, or remove submissions where reasonably necessary.

9. Publicly Available and Third-Party Information

NearAfrica may publish legitimate business information obtained from publicly available or third-party sources.

The publication of information about a business does not necessarily indicate that the business requested or authorized its inclusion.

If a business owner or authorized representative believes that information is inaccurate, outdated, misleading, improperly used, or otherwise requires attention, they may contact NearAfrica through the available reporting or correction process.

NearAfrica may request evidence before making changes.

10. Accuracy, Corrections, and Updates

NearAfrica aims to maintain useful and accurate information.

However, NearAfrica does not guarantee that:

• A business remains open.
• A business remains at a particular address.
• Telephone numbers remain active.
• Websites remain available.
• Opening hours remain accurate.
• Prices remain accurate.
• Services remain available.
• Business ownership remains unchanged.
• Geographic coordinates are exact.
• Descriptions remain current.
• Reviews remain representative.
• Third-party information is error-free.

Users may report inaccurate information. NearAfrica may investigate and correct information where appropriate.

11. Business Removal Requests

A business owner or authorized representative may request correction or removal of a listing.

A request may require information reasonably necessary to establish the requester's identity, authority, ownership, or legitimate interest.

NearAfrica will consider removal requests in accordance with applicable law and its policies.

A request does not guarantee immediate removal.

NearAfrica may retain limited information where reasonably necessary for legal compliance, fraud prevention, security, dispute resolution, recordkeeping, protection of users, protection of NearAfrica, or other lawful purposes.

12. Reviews

Where reviews are available, users should submit reviews based on genuine experiences.

Reviews must not contain:

• Knowingly false factual allegations.
• Fabricated experiences.
• Threats.
• Harassment.
• Hate-based abuse.
• Personal attacks unrelated to a legitimate review.
• Spam.
• Advertising disguised as a review.
• Review manipulation.
• Attempts to artificially increase or decrease ratings.
• Impersonation.
• Extortion.
• Unnecessary exposure of private or sensitive personal information.
• Illegal or otherwise prohibited content.

NearAfrica may moderate, hide, reject, edit where appropriate, or remove reviews that violate its policies or applicable law.

13. Business Responses and Right to Report

Where available, businesses may respond to reviews or report reviews they believe violate NearAfrica's rules.

A report does not automatically result in removal.

NearAfrica may consider relevant information from both the reviewer and the business when investigating a complaint.

NearAfrica does not act as a court and does not guarantee that it will resolve every factual dispute between a reviewer and a business.

14. Reports and Complaints

Users may report incorrect business information, fraudulent listings, impersonation, inappropriate reviews, copyright concerns, privacy concerns, misleading information, abuse of the claim system, security issues, or other violations of these Terms.

Reports should contain enough information for NearAfrica to understand the issue.

Knowingly false or malicious reports may themselves violate these Terms.

NearAfrica may request additional evidence before taking action.

15. Defamation and Reputation-Related Complaints

NearAfrica does not encourage users to publish allegations that they know to be false.

Users should distinguish between genuine personal experiences, opinions, verifiable factual information, and serious allegations requiring supporting evidence.

Users must not use NearAfrica to deliberately damage another person's or business's reputation through knowingly false statements.

A person or business who believes content is unlawful, materially false, or otherwise violates these Terms may submit a report or correction request.

NearAfrica may review the material and take action where appropriate and lawful.

16. Images, Logos, and Copyright

Users must not upload or submit photographs, logos, graphics, videos, descriptions, or other copyrighted material unless they have the necessary rights, permission, license, or other lawful basis to use the material.

By submitting such material, you represent that you have the necessary rights or authorization.

NearAfrica may remove or restrict material where:

• A credible copyright complaint is received.
• The uploader cannot reasonably establish the right to use the material.
• The material violates NearAfrica's policies.
• The material appears fraudulent or misleading.
• Removal is otherwise reasonably necessary.

NearAfrica may cooperate with legitimate rights-holder requests and lawful authorities.

Nothing in these Terms transfers ownership of third-party intellectual property to NearAfrica.

17. License to User-Submitted Material

Where you submit material to NearAfrica, you grant NearAfrica a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license, to the extent permitted by law, to host, store, reproduce, format, display, distribute, and otherwise use that material as reasonably necessary to operate, maintain, promote, secure, and improve the NearAfrica platform.

This license does not mean that NearAfrica owns your underlying copyright.

You remain responsible for ensuring that you have the rights necessary to grant this license.

You may request removal of material you submitted, subject to applicable law and NearAfrica's legitimate operational, legal, security, and recordkeeping requirements.

18. Personal Information and Privacy

NearAfrica may process personal information when users submit businesses, claim businesses, submit reviews, submit reports, contact NearAfrica, interact with the platform, or use features that require personal information.

NearAfrica's handling of personal information is described in the NearAfrica Privacy Policy.

NearAfrica intends to process personal information in accordance with applicable data-protection laws.

Nothing in these Terms removes rights that cannot lawfully be excluded.

19. Third-Party Services

NearAfrica may use third-party services to provide technical functions, including hosting, databases, maps, analytics, communications, storage, payment processing, security, or other infrastructure.

Third-party services may operate under their own terms and privacy policies.

NearAfrica is not responsible for independent actions or failures of third-party services except to the extent required by applicable law.

20. External Links

NearAfrica may contain links to websites, social media profiles, maps, or other external services.

NearAfrica does not control all external websites and is not responsible for their content, security, availability, privacy practices, products, services, or transactions.

Users should review the applicable third party's terms and policies.

21. Transactions Between Users and Businesses

NearAfrica generally does not participate in transactions between users and listed businesses.

If you purchase a product, book a service, send money, visit a business, hire a business, enter into a contract, or otherwise transact with a business, the transaction is generally between you and that business.

NearAfrica does not guarantee a business's products, services, pricing, availability, quality, safety, professional qualifications, financial condition, licensing, or performance.

Users should conduct appropriate checks before entering into transactions.

22. No Professional, Financial, Legal, Medical, or Other Advice

Information displayed on NearAfrica is generally intended for discovery and informational purposes.

NearAfrica does not provide professional advice merely by listing a business or displaying information about its services.

Users should obtain appropriate professional advice where necessary.

23. Prohibited Activities

You must not use NearAfrica to:

• Commit or facilitate fraud.
• Impersonate another person or business.
• Submit knowingly false information.
• Manipulate reviews or ratings.
• Create fake business listings.
• Abuse the claim system.
• Harass businesses or users.
• Extort businesses or users.
• Send spam.
• Upload malicious software.
• Attack or interfere with NearAfrica systems.
• Attempt unauthorized access.
• Circumvent security controls.
• Abuse APIs.
• Scrape or collect data in a manner that unreasonably interferes with the platform or violates applicable restrictions.
• Violate another person's intellectual-property rights.
• Violate privacy rights.
• Use NearAfrica for unlawful activities.
• Interfere with another person's use of NearAfrica.

24. Security

Users must not attempt to compromise the security or availability of NearAfrica.

This includes attempting to access another user's account, access administrative systems without authorization, exploit vulnerabilities for malicious purposes, circumvent authentication, introduce malicious code, overload systems, interfere with databases or APIs, or obtain information that the user is not authorized to access.

Security vulnerabilities should be reported to NearAfrica rather than exploited.

25. Automated Access and Scraping

NearAfrica may use technical controls to protect the platform from excessive automated requests.

Automated access must not overload the service, circumvent access controls, extract information in violation of applicable law or contractual restrictions, interfere with normal operation, or defeat technical safeguards.

NearAfrica may restrict automated requests that threaten platform stability or security.

26. Suspension and Termination

NearAfrica may suspend, restrict, or terminate access to accounts, listings, claims, reviews, submissions, or other features where reasonably necessary to enforce these Terms, prevent fraud, protect users, protect businesses, protect NearAfrica, investigate suspected abuse, address security threats, comply with legal obligations, or protect the integrity of the platform.

Where appropriate, NearAfrica may provide an opportunity to appeal or resolve an issue.

27. Administrative Records and Audit Trail

NearAfrica may maintain records concerning important platform actions, including business submissions, listing changes, claim submissions, claim decisions, review moderation, reports, corrections, removal requests, administrative actions, security events, and other actions reasonably necessary to operate and protect the platform.

Such records may be used for security, fraud prevention, dispute resolution, legal compliance, platform administration, and enforcement of these Terms.

28. Legal Requests and Cooperation

NearAfrica may respond to valid legal processes, lawful government requests, court orders, regulatory requests, or other legally binding obligations.

Where permitted by law, NearAfrica may preserve or disclose information reasonably necessary to comply with legal obligations, protect users, protect businesses, protect NearAfrica, investigate fraud, investigate security incidents, or prevent unlawful activity.

Nothing in these Terms requires NearAfrica to disclose information where disclosure would be prohibited by applicable law.

29. Platform Availability

NearAfrica is provided on an evolving basis.

We do not guarantee that the platform will always be available, features will always work without interruption, errors will never occur, data will never be lost, maps will always function, external services will always function, or the platform will always be compatible with every device or browser.

NearAfrica may perform maintenance, updates, security work, or technical changes that temporarily affect availability.

30. Disclaimer of Warranties

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, NearAfrica provides the platform and directory information on an "as available" and "as is" basis.

NearAfrica does not make warranties that information will always be complete, accurate, current, suitable for a particular purpose, error-free, or available without interruption.

Nothing in this section excludes a warranty or legal protection that cannot lawfully be excluded.

31. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, NearAfrica shall not be liable for losses arising solely from:

• Reliance on inaccurate or outdated business information.
• Actions of an independently operated business.
• User-submitted content.
• Third-party websites.
• Third-party services.
• Business transactions conducted independently of NearAfrica.
• Temporary platform interruptions.
• User-generated reviews.
• Changes to business operations.
• Incorrect business hours or contact information.
• Events outside NearAfrica's reasonable control.

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability where such exclusion or limitation would be unlawful.

Nothing in these Terms is intended to remove mandatory statutory rights available to a user.

32. Indemnification

To the extent permitted by applicable law, you agree to be responsible for claims, losses, liabilities, damages, and reasonable expenses arising from your violation of these Terms, knowingly unlawful submissions, fraudulent claim, impersonation, infringement of another person's rights, misuse of the platform, or unlawful conduct connected to your use of NearAfrica.

This provision does not require you to indemnify NearAfrica for losses caused by NearAfrica's own conduct where applicable law does not permit such a requirement.

33. Dispute Resolution and Complaints

If you believe that NearAfrica has made an error, violated these Terms, improperly handled a listing, or otherwise caused a concern, you are encouraged to contact NearAfrica first so that the matter can be reviewed.

Depending on the nature of the complaint, NearAfrica may request your name, contact information, relevant listing, explanation of the issue, supporting documents, evidence of ownership or authorization, or other information reasonably necessary to investigate the matter.

Nothing in this section prevents a person from exercising rights that cannot legally be waived.

34. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

These Terms shall be interpreted in accordance with applicable laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, subject to any mandatory laws that apply to a particular user or transaction.

Where legally appropriate, disputes relating to NearAfrica may be brought before courts having jurisdiction in Nigeria.

Nothing in this section is intended to remove mandatory consumer, privacy, or other legal rights.

35. Severability

If any provision of these Terms is found to be invalid, unlawful, or unenforceable, that provision shall be interpreted or modified to the minimum extent necessary where legally permitted.

The remaining provisions shall continue to apply to the extent permitted by law.

36. No Waiver

A failure by NearAfrica to enforce a provision of these Terms does not automatically constitute a waiver of that provision.

NearAfrica may enforce its rights at a later time.

37. Entire Agreement

These Terms, together with applicable NearAfrica policies referenced within them, constitute the agreement governing your use of NearAfrica, except where additional terms expressly apply to a particular service.

Additional policies may include:

• Privacy Policy
• Listing Policy
• Review Policy
• Copyright and Image Policy
• Claim Business Policy
• Other policies introduced by NearAfrica

38. Contact NearAfrica

For questions, complaints, corrections, copyright concerns, privacy concerns, business claims, removal requests, or other legal or platform-related matters, contact NearAfrica.

39. Acceptance

By accessing or using NearAfrica, you acknowledge that you have read and understood these Terms and agree to comply with them.

If you do not agree with these Terms, please do not use NearAfrica.