Online payments solution platform, Flutterwave has appointed former MTN and Visa executive, Oluwabankole Falade as its new Chief Regulatory and Government Relations Officer. The company announced this in a statement released on Tuesday, July 13, 2021.
Falade, who has worked in similar roles in companies like MTN and Visa, brings a wealth of legal, regulatory, business development, and government relations experience from a 16-year stint in the financial and telecoms industries.
In this new role, he is to provide “strategic oversight and government relation strategies, while ensuring that the interest and needs of the business are aligned with that of the regulators.”
Currently, Flutterwave is present in 33 African countries. Falade’s regulatory experience with global giants like MTN and Visa should serve as good reference points in his new role.
In the last few years, the Nigerian fintech space has faced heavy scrutiny from the government. This is no surprise as the industry raises concerns relating to two touchy subjects — consumer protection and fraud prevention.
While most companies employ compliance officers to stay on the right side of the law, there is also a need to develop and maintain cordial relationships with the government.
According to Oluwagbenga Agboola, Flutterwave CEO, “With Bankole joining our team, we believe he is well placed to strengthen our existing relationships as well as support us create new relationships. Bankole will play an instrumental role in supporting us achieve our goal of creating endless possibilities for our customers with our key stakeholders in mind.”
Falade’s appointment seems to mirror a growing trend in better government-stakeholder relationships in the fintech industry. A trend that has seen Chaka bag the Securities Exchange Commissions' (SEC) first digital stock trading licence.
It has also seen Cowrywise secure an asset management licence from SEC.
Be the smartest in the room
Give it a try, you can unsubscribe anytime. Privacy Policy.
Do you think we will see more appointments like this in fintech companies? Let us know in the comments section.
