While Hazrat Maulvi Abdur Rahim Nayyar (ra) was serving as a missionary in England, he received an instruction from Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad (ra), Khalifatul Masih II, to travel to the West Africa, and establish an Ahmadiyya Mission there.

Hazrat Maulvi Abdur Rahim Nayyar (ra) set sail from London on 9 February 1921 and though his original destination was Ghana, when he came to know that the ship would anchor at Freetown, Sierra Leone, he made full use of this opportunity and sent a wire to a prominent Muslim, Mr Y Khairuddin informing him about his arrival.

On 19 February 1921, he set foot on the shores of Sierra Leone. The message of Islam Ahmadiyyat reached Sierra Leone in 1915 through Ahmadiyya literature and a local, Pa Musa K Garber, joined the Jamaat in 1916 through a letter.

Hazrat Maulvi Abdur Rahim Nayyar (ra) stayed in Freetown for three days and met many prominent Muslim scholars and delivered lectures about Islam Ahmadiyyat. 

He left Sierra Leone on 21 February 1921. A large number of Muslims came to see him off. Mr Y Saddruddin Joined the Jamaat during his visit.

He then  stayed at Gold Coast (now Ghana), and eventually reached his final destination, Nigeria, and established an Ahmadiyya Mission in Lagos. 

In a very short time, thousands of people in Nigeria and the Gold Coast, accepted Ahmadiyyat. After Hazrat Maulvi Abdur Rahim Nayyar (ra), Hakim Fazlur Rahman was sent as a missionary there.

Then, the Ahmadiyya Missions were established in Gold Coast and Sierra Leone as well.