Profiles
Flutterwave CEO (nicknamed GB) is torn between damage control and sustaining growth
Monday October 03 2022
If there is one lesson that African unicorns have picked this year, it is the ability of financial technology (fintech) startups to attract huge investments running into billions of dollars from overseas.
A new benchmark was set early this year by Flutterwave, arguably the most successful payments technology startup in Africa, after it raised Sh28.41 billion.
The funding round valued the firm founded in 2016 at Sh340.9 billion, higher than some of the most profitable Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed banks like Equity and KCB.
At the centre of all this success is the startup’s 38-year-old co-founder and CEO Olugbenga Agboola, better known as GB, whom industry insiders say is a larger-than-life personality who has stuck despite loud murmurs that he should quit following a series of scandals.
To the media, however, GB strikes as a reclusive and reserved chief executive who rarely gives interviews. A random online search yields little information on his background, but he has claimed his position as a techie who has a magic wand for Africa’s payments challenges.
He was featured on the Time’s Next 100 2021 list and a year before that he was named on Fortune’s 40 Under 40 list. This year, he was awarded the Tech Investor of Year by Business Insider, just as the current storm was building.
“There are so many problems to solve on the continent. There are so many things to build. I’m excited by entrepreneurs who are willing to take on these crazy problems and try to solve them, across the board,” GB told a McKinsey’s Banking & Securities Practice podcast in April.
“Africa has always been known to leapfrog. We go from nothing to something, consistently—no phones, to mobiles, to the Internet. People skipped browsers; they search for what they want to buy on Instagram.”
Flutterwave has had a sweet year but with a lot of a bitter aftertaste. Just after the successful fundraising early in the year, the firm was rocked by allegations of financial impropriety and sexual harassment against GB.
And even before the dust could settle, the Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) pounced on Flutterwave, accusing it of money laundering and fraud which led to the freezing of over Sh6 billion in Safaricom paybills and 60 bank accounts.
GB has since scrambled to try to set the record straight on the allegations, which accused him of conducts that could send chief executives of most blue-chip companies around the globe parking.
He has termed the accusations as a “media smear and disinformation campaign” against the young company but has fallen short of providing evidence even after promising to do so in many of the press releases sent out to mitigate the fallout.
Born in 1984 in Lagos, Nigeria, the software engineer has been the brain behind Flutterwave’s success. The University of Westminster graduate co-founded the company along with Iyinoluwa Aboyeji.
The Nigerian entrepreneur has had a sterling career having worked at Standard Bank Nigeria and Access Bank besides stints at global payment solutions company PayPal and Google.
Amid mounting allegations of personal misconduct and unethical business practices, he has taken Flutterwave from a little-known startup in Lagos to a financial payment solutions behemoth with a base in San Francisco, United States.
“The way we see the growth is that we are not yet processing even 10 percent of the payment potential in Africa, so it’s still really early days for us. We follow our customers when it comes to our growth, our expansion, and how we move across geographies and sectors,” GB told the McKinsey podcast.
“What we didn’t expect was to become the infrastructure of payments in Africa. There’s no Africa fintech who is not our customer, and that’s very interesting. There is no other infrastructure to pay or get paid across Africa.”
Flutterwave and its CEO have chosen to be suave and deferential as they fight the mounting legal and regulatory challenges to maintain the trust that its wealthy investors and partners have placed on it.
Critics say the decision by GB to tap Oneal Bhambani as chief financial officer and a series of another top hiring from US-based firms was meant to blindside people from the real issues plaguing the company.
Agboola and Flutterwave have denied wrongdoing, but some of the accusers and critics say that whatever has happened this year is the tip of an iceberg.
Clara Wanjiku Odero, who has since moved to Softbank-backed Credrails in April, narrated accounts of bullying and fraud in the company, but Flutterwave came out guns blazing saying that the accusations were not true.
GB has also not adequately addressed claims of insider trading and sexual harassment that were first reported by Nigerian investigative journalist David Hundeyin.
Flutterwave might as well become an African success story, but for now, industry insiders and critics alike are looking for solid responses to the cases facing the company.
Now, the company is torn between damage control and pursuing its meteoric rise on the continent, in the process missing to address serious corporate governance missteps that could send it crumbling.
Maybe, Flutterwave was not ready to handle the amount of success it has seen in the short period.
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Inside Tanzania’s Life-Saving Birthcare Model
Tanzania is winning the battle against maternal and newborn deaths, as the latest numbers reveal a significant decline.
“Tanzania is committed to reducing maternal and newborn mortality and ensuring safe deliveries as part of the national development plan. The Safer Births Bundle of Care is one of the key strategies supporting this effort,” said Dr. Benjamin Kamala, the Senior Research Scientist at Haydom Lutheran Hospital and Principal Investigator for the program, leading its implementation across five regions in Tanzania.
A groundbreaking study published in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that the innovative health program in Tanzania – centered on regular, on-the-job training for healthcare workers – reduced maternal deaths by 75% and early newborn deaths by 40%. The three-year study, conducted across 30 high-burden healthcare facilities in Tanzania, tracked approximately 300,000 mother-baby pairs under the Safer Births Bundle of Care (SBBC) programme. The programme focuses on improving care for mothers and babies during the day of birth, the critical time when a woman goes into labor and delivers her baby.
Maternal health is a key focus of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically Target 3.1, which aims to reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to fewer than 70 deaths per 100,000 live births by 2030.
Tanzania’s program combines continuous, simulation-based training for frontline healthcare workers alongside innovative clinical tools to improve labour monitoring (fetal heart rate monitoring) and newborn resuscitation.It also uses data to drive ongoing improvements, ensuring that healthcare workers have the skills, confidence, and competence to manage birth-related complications for both mothers and newborns.
“We work closely with healthcare workers, equipping them with the necessary tools to improve the quality of care, ensuring they can effectively manage both mothers and babies during and after childbirth,” Dr. Kamala said, which helps them build on over a decade of innovative research and collaboration to improve care during childbirth.
“To give you a sense of the scale of the burden of maternal and newborn mortality in Tanzania when the Safer Births Bundles of Care program was in early development in 2015/16, there were around 556 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births and 25 neonatal deaths per 1,000 live births,” he said.
The published study demonstrates the “transformative impact” of the Safer Births Bundle of Care program conducted across 30 hospitals in five high-burden regions of Tanzania, where there were about 300,000 mother-baby pairs.
Maternal deaths at the start of the program were recorded at 240 per 100,000 live births, with postpartum hemorrhage and hypertensive disorders being the leading causes of death, he said. Over the 24-month study period, this number dropped to approximately 60 per 100,000 live births, representing a 75% reduction. The number of newborn deaths – which are primarily due to breathing difficulties and complications related to prematurity – declined by 40% – from 7 deaths per 1,000 live births to 4 deaths per 1,000 live births.
“These results are remarkable,” Dr. Kamala said.
According to Dr. Kamala, the 75% reduction in maternal deaths was not expected, and a key lesson was the important role of the in-situ team simulations – including for postpartum bleeding – with reflective debriefings that trained facilitators led.
“This seems to be a major part of the success of the program,” he said. “We are delighted by these results and hope that other countries adopt and scale the Safer Births Bundle of Care program… Beyond the numbers, the Safer Births Bundle of Care program has fostered a dramatic culture shift in our healthcare system,” he said. “Healthcare workers are now more confident and better equipped to handle birth-related complications for both mothers and babies.”
Maternal death drop
Dr. Kamala attributed the 60-70% reduction in newborn deaths in Geita and Manyara to several factors.
“Firstly, Manyara was the first site for implementation, giving the region more time to adapt and experience the impact of the program. Most importantly, both regions had a high burden of stillbirths and neonatal deaths, making them ideal targets for focused intervention. As a result, newborn deaths decreased by 60-70%, showcasing a clear positive impact on newborn survival,” he said.
Dr. Kamala said another possible explanation is the differences in the culture of practices, where some health facilities reported inaccurate data due to the fear of blame and shame. However, with the project’s implementation, reporting became more accurate after mplementation. Some regions, such as Tabora, reported an increase in the number of referrals to the study hospitals from other care centers after the program was implemented. These were more likely to be late admissions, which increase the likelihood of poor health outcomes, he said.
After the implementation of the program, there was a 40% decrease in newborn deaths within the first 24 hours after birth, according to the study.
Dr. Kamala said Tanzania’s remarkable progress in reducing maternal mortality by 80% is driven by strategic investments and innovative programs focused on improving maternal and child survival rates.
“Over 2,000 new healthcare facilities have been developed, free health services are being provided to expectant mothers and children under the age of five, and emergency obstetric care – including better transport to hospitals in rural areas are helping to ensure timely, life-saving interventions.
“Most importantly, the Ministry of Health works in collaboration with healthcare workers, hospitals, and development partners to strengthen the skills of frontline healthcare workers, which has been a key factor in driving this progress.
“Political leadership, alongside strategic partnerships and financing, has been crucial in driving progress in maternal and newborn health,” he said.
The program was made possible by the support of the Global Financing Facility for Women, Children, and Adolescents, Norad, UNICEF, and Laerdal Global Health, as well as the Ministry of Health and Haydom Lutheran Hospital. Their partnership and investment enabled the scaling of the Safer Births Bundle of Care to 30 hospitals and supported the research. “The government has now scaled the program to over 150 sites, and there are plans for further expansion to three regions this year and then nationally,” he said.
Dr. Kamala outlined key policy recommendations for other governments can adopt to prioritize maternal health.
“Firstly, it focuses on cost-effective and relatively simple interventions that are essential to preventing maternal and newborn deaths. For example, stronger primary healthcare that is delivered in the community and a well-trained healthcare workforce are also critical. Additionally, working in close collaboration with national, regional, and local health authorities is key.”
He said Tanzania’s approach, where the Safer Births Bundle of Care program was successfully scaled and sustained by aligning the initiative with national guidelines for obstetrical and newborn care. In addition, the creation of mentorship programs and regular supervision has helped to sustain the results.
Looking ahead
Tanzania now plans to expand to three new regions in 2025, followed by a nationwide rollout.
The success of the program has attracted interest from other countries, with Botswana, Ethiopia, Lesotho, and Namibia expressing interest in adapting the program to their healthcare system. In Nigeria, the program has already been launched in two states, Gombe and Borno, marking a significant step in its scaling.
Source: allafrica.com
Africa: Rwanda Gets a Grip Of Marburg, But Mpox ‘Not Yet Under Control’
Monrovia — The Rwanda Minister of State responsible for Health, Dr. Yvan Butera, cautioned that while the country is beginning to see positive signals in its fight against the Marburg virus, the outbreak is “not yet over”. He, however, expressed hope that “we are headed in that direction”. The minister said the epidemiology trend, since the disease was first discovered in the country more than a month ago, is moving towards fewer cases.
Dr. Butera, who was giving updates during an online briefing yesterday, said in the past two weeks, only two deaths were recorded while 14 people recovered from the disease. He said Rwanda was expanding its testing capacity with 16,000 people already inoculated against the disease.
The priority right now, Butera said, is “rapid testing and detection”.
Marburg is a highly virulent disease transmitted through human-to-human contact or contact with an infected animal. The fatality rate of cases, which has varied over the period, is more than 50%, according to the World Health Organization. WHO said the highest number of new confirmed cases in Rwanda were reported in the first two weeks of the outbreak. There’s been a “sharp decline” in the last few weeks, with the country now tackling over 60 cases.
At Thursday’s briefing, a senior official of the Africa Centers for Disease Control, Dr. Ngashi Ngongo, said mpox – the other infectious disease outbreak that countries in the region are fighting – was been reported in 19 countries, with Mauritius being the latest country to confirm a case. He said although no new cases have been recorded in recent weeks in several countries where outbreaks occurred previously – including Cameroon, South Africa, Guinea, and Gabon – Uganda confirmed its first Mpox death. This, he said, is one of two fatalities reported outside Central Africa.
Dr. Ngashi revealed that there was an increase in cases in Liberia and Uganda. He said mpox cases were still on an upward trend.
“The situation is not yet under control.”
Source: allafrica.com
For years, a UK mining giant was untouchable in Zambia for pollution until a former miner’s son took them on
For years, the people in the villages around Chingola in Zambia endured frequent health challenges and dead fish floating around in their water source, but that was just the beginning of their nightmare.Continue Reading
