The TIENS company, situated on the VDN in Dakar, is the subject of intense controversy. Officially specialized in the sale of dietary and well-being products, it is accused by many voices of being a disguised scam, concealing a pyramidal system similar to that of QNET. Between illusory promises of wealth and dubious practices, TIENS seems to play with the hopes of a youth in search of a better future. TIENS demands from its new members an initial payment of 160 000 FCFA, justified by the acquisition of products considered to be “revolutionary” for health. But the real objective is not so much the sale of these products as the recruitment of new members, a key principle of pyramid schemes. Once integrated, the adherent must recruit at least four other persons, who must in turn pay the required sum and repeat the process. This model recalls the Ponzi schemes, where the profits of the first arrivals come from the funds injected by the new ones.
TIENS Sénégal: the illusion of success, the reality of fraud
