In April, a Nigerian presidential aide announced the government would invest $75 million in Flutterwave ahead of a planned IPO. The tweet was shared widely and the fintech community treated it as a validation event.

Flutterwave immediately denied it and the tweet was deleted. No explanation came from the Presidency or the Ministry of Finance.

The unpopular opinion: the problem wasn't the false announcement, it was that nobody in the room waited to verify before calling it a win. Government enthusiasm got treated as diligence - a deleted tweet from a social media aide got treated as a term sheet.

That reflex is exactly how the desperation industry survives. It doesn't need a lie, it just needs an audience that wants to believe.