For a long time, I wasn’t sure if I should tell these stories. They’re embarrassing in some ways. We lost serious money. We made decisions that look obvious in hindsight.

But then I thought — if even one person reads this and avoids a similar mistake, it’s worth it. Some situations cost us money. Others could have cost us our lives.

So here it is. The first story.

Eight years in Dubai. Started at 4 a.m. on city buses in Sharjah. Years later, I was driving a Maserati on Palm Jumeirah.

Then Africa happened.

It was 2018. My wife’s friend got married. Her husband — a Macedonian with a shady past — immediately started pitching deals. One day he said he knew a gold supplier in Kenya. 30 kg bars at $30,000/kg — roughly market rate at the time. We’d bring them to Dubai and sell at 20–30% profit. No cash needed for the gold itself — just logistics.

We flew to Nairobi with cash.

The refinery was in a basement. Metal doors. Multiple security gates. They melted the gold right in front of us and poured it into molds. I tested every bar myself. Real gold. 100%.

I personally packed the case, sealed it, attached the lock. Weighed it on the floor scales there. The keys never left my hands.

Then we drove to their office. Professional logistics company in central Nairobi. Real address. Proper signage. Everything looked legitimate. We paid $93,000 — not for the gold itself, but for export documents, insurance, shipping, and handling fees. The gold would stay at the refinery and be shipped within 4–8 days.

We flew back to Dubai. Waited.

Day 10 — still nothing. Day 30 — we understood.

The gold never arrived.

That was the beginning of three years chasing gold and diamonds across Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, and Congo. In total, we lost around $400,000.

And yet… knowing everything I know today, I would still get on that plane to Nairobi.

This story isn’t over. There’s more: returning to Nairobi, tracking down the buyer and logistics people, discovering that the shipment was arrested at the border, attempting to smuggle the gold into Tanzania by car, and learning that even then, the only way to get our gold to Dubai would be to pay for another 30 kg on top. The next chapter is as crazy — if not crazier — than this one.

Have you ever trusted someone in business and got burned? Are you thinking about investing in Africa? Leave a comment — I might save you a few hundred thousand.

I recently started a Telegram channel — @FromDubaiToDust. Over the coming weeks, I’ll post exclusive content: photos and videos from Africa, the full story of our gold and diamond operations, daily life in Uganda during COVID, and everything in between.

If this story intrigues you, join early — the next chapter will blow your mind.