Two articles have opened a can of worms and shaken Africa’s tech ecosystem to its core. Both put Flutterwave, Africa’s highest-valued startup, under the spotlight.
Another one. When I watched the Wells Fargo video campaign I laughed so hard I don't know why though. Another exciting angle to learn about how to be proactive in corporate communications. Thanks for the lessons shared.
Great read overall and very good insights especially with regards the examples from Monzo and Wells Fargo. However, and this may make me appear like the Devil's advocate, from a PR POV and given the Nigerian context, the vague or opaque response as you put it, is the best recourse.
It is important to place in perspective the nature of the expose and the response from the tech community when it was released. Given the controversial nature of DH and his style of journalism, the story was bound to be polarizing with holes being poked around and I think FW capitalized on that in drafting their response. While there was indeed public outcry, there was in equal measure a reserve of sympathy for FW given that it is the biggest success story in African tech.
I find it interesting from FW that there was no admission of wrongdoing. Perhaps this is because they are taking the infamous "legal steps" and want to avoid specifics that may come back to haunt them.
Another point that is instructive to note is that the examples of Monzo and Wells Fargo which you provided are not situated in Africa. There's the balance of having to do what is expected, versus the reality.
An example that comes to mind is FemCo and allegations of financial impropriety with #EndSARS donations. To provide accountability, they published a detailed account of how funds where disbursed on Notion which was circulated wide. Did that end the matter though? No. Instead, people doubled down, poking holes and finding sinister things to say, DH being one of the standout leaders of that mob. Now I understand that FemCo isn't a part of the tech ecosystem but the story highlights an uncomfortable truth with PR: always share/say less than necessary.
Better to have no salt in your beans than too much.
Hello 👋🏾. So, first, thank you for taking the time and read and comment. I like that you’re providing a different perspective to the conversation.
I see your point about the nature of the report and the journalist who produced it. However, there’s a larger conversation and context here, which is about the significance of Flutterwave, the nature of the industry in which it operates (finance), and the ecosystem’s general grasp of comms as a concept. Flutterwave is not FemCo, with all due respect, it’s a far more consequential entity. It’s also not just another startup. In many ways, it’s the champion of an entire ecosystem, a symbol of what is and what can be. So, there’s far more at stake here, and silence/opaqueness has so far not been helpful.
Even the recent report by TechCrunch that the company’s CEO sent an email addressing employees last night shows how ill-prepared they were for this. And that, in my opinion, is where the problem is. That’s what I set out to address.
I hear you David and I hope you understand that I'm not in any way undermining your work. I did say that I considered it very insightful, I liked it.
However, something that I think it doesn't do which I pointed out earlier is providing a contemporary African example, in Fintech perhaps, where a crisis of this nature has been averted by virtue of being "transparent" and "baring it all out". A few minutes after I read your post, I was on Twitter only to find out that Kuda Bank was getting "ratioed" over a statement they released trying to explain their side of the story following allegations of customer harassment by police officers at their office. In trying to douse fire, they inflamed it. This isn't isolated. We saw this play out a while back with Cowrywise and Funmi Oyatogun, saw the same thing with Thrive Agric, among others.
Hindsight as they say is 20/20 and people appear wise after the fact. From my POV rather than hammer FW for their approach, I think it is the one that manages the crisis best. I also think it's too early to conclude that the opaqueness is unhelpful as we don't have any data to support this. Have there been any sudden funding pull-outs due to the story? Are series funding being delayed with investors having second thoughts? You're a journalist in that space so maybe you have info that the rest of us don't.
Whether FW is a champion in the entire tech ecosystem appears to be an academic point at this time, the important thing here is how well FW can shape their narrative and IMO they're doing that just fine.
Well said! Interesting take on Wells Fargo too — didn’t know that happened. Raising eyebrows at Nigerian banks that do the same thing. Lol.
Haha! Thank you, Marvin.
Another one. When I watched the Wells Fargo video campaign I laughed so hard I don't know why though. Another exciting angle to learn about how to be proactive in corporate communications. Thanks for the lessons shared.
Kenny! You’re welcome 🤗
Great read overall and very good insights especially with regards the examples from Monzo and Wells Fargo. However, and this may make me appear like the Devil's advocate, from a PR POV and given the Nigerian context, the vague or opaque response as you put it, is the best recourse.
It is important to place in perspective the nature of the expose and the response from the tech community when it was released. Given the controversial nature of DH and his style of journalism, the story was bound to be polarizing with holes being poked around and I think FW capitalized on that in drafting their response. While there was indeed public outcry, there was in equal measure a reserve of sympathy for FW given that it is the biggest success story in African tech.
I find it interesting from FW that there was no admission of wrongdoing. Perhaps this is because they are taking the infamous "legal steps" and want to avoid specifics that may come back to haunt them.
Another point that is instructive to note is that the examples of Monzo and Wells Fargo which you provided are not situated in Africa. There's the balance of having to do what is expected, versus the reality.
An example that comes to mind is FemCo and allegations of financial impropriety with #EndSARS donations. To provide accountability, they published a detailed account of how funds where disbursed on Notion which was circulated wide. Did that end the matter though? No. Instead, people doubled down, poking holes and finding sinister things to say, DH being one of the standout leaders of that mob. Now I understand that FemCo isn't a part of the tech ecosystem but the story highlights an uncomfortable truth with PR: always share/say less than necessary.
Better to have no salt in your beans than too much.
Hello 👋🏾. So, first, thank you for taking the time and read and comment. I like that you’re providing a different perspective to the conversation.
I see your point about the nature of the report and the journalist who produced it. However, there’s a larger conversation and context here, which is about the significance of Flutterwave, the nature of the industry in which it operates (finance), and the ecosystem’s general grasp of comms as a concept. Flutterwave is not FemCo, with all due respect, it’s a far more consequential entity. It’s also not just another startup. In many ways, it’s the champion of an entire ecosystem, a symbol of what is and what can be. So, there’s far more at stake here, and silence/opaqueness has so far not been helpful.
Even the recent report by TechCrunch that the company’s CEO sent an email addressing employees last night shows how ill-prepared they were for this. And that, in my opinion, is where the problem is. That’s what I set out to address.
I hear you David and I hope you understand that I'm not in any way undermining your work. I did say that I considered it very insightful, I liked it.
However, something that I think it doesn't do which I pointed out earlier is providing a contemporary African example, in Fintech perhaps, where a crisis of this nature has been averted by virtue of being "transparent" and "baring it all out". A few minutes after I read your post, I was on Twitter only to find out that Kuda Bank was getting "ratioed" over a statement they released trying to explain their side of the story following allegations of customer harassment by police officers at their office. In trying to douse fire, they inflamed it. This isn't isolated. We saw this play out a while back with Cowrywise and Funmi Oyatogun, saw the same thing with Thrive Agric, among others.
Hindsight as they say is 20/20 and people appear wise after the fact. From my POV rather than hammer FW for their approach, I think it is the one that manages the crisis best. I also think it's too early to conclude that the opaqueness is unhelpful as we don't have any data to support this. Have there been any sudden funding pull-outs due to the story? Are series funding being delayed with investors having second thoughts? You're a journalist in that space so maybe you have info that the rest of us don't.
Whether FW is a champion in the entire tech ecosystem appears to be an academic point at this time, the important thing here is how well FW can shape their narrative and IMO they're doing that just fine.
Interesting find. Can't count the amount of times I've learned a thing or two whenever I read your articles. Good job Mr Adeleke
Thank you so much, Segun!
Nice one David. Learnt the strategic role of communications in a startup.
Fantastic write-up! In some cases, silence is not golden.
Thank you, Olamide!
Another insightful read, thank you David
Thank you so much. I look forward to seeing you today!
It got sold out before I could register.😭😭
Oh my goodness! :-(