The campaign, launched in Ghana in 2024 and later expanded to Senegal and Sierra Leone, was designed to tackle the misuse of QNET’s name by fraudsters posing as company agents. 

It has now earned QNET three honours at the 2025 IBAs — a Gold Stevie Award for “Rebuilding Trust Through Crisis Communication and Public Education in Ghana” under the Brand/Reputation Management category, a Silver Stevie Award in the Public Service category, and a Bronze Stevie Award for its flagship event, V-Africa 2025, recognised under Corporate & Community – Community Engagement Event.

Through the QNET Against Scams campaign, the company sought to restore public trust by clarifying its direct selling business model and educating the public on how to spot fraud. 

The initiative combined radio and television messaging, social media engagement, billboard placements, and even creative street activations such as roller-skating teams that captured attention in major cities.

The campaign’s success was also rooted in its partnerships with key law enforcement and regulatory agencies, including Ghana’s Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), the Ghana Police Service, the Ghana Immigration Service, and Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Together, these institutions worked to curb fraudulent activities and promote financial awareness.

Beyond public education, QNET introduced a Scam Alert portal, designed to help consumers verify company information, identify fraudulent claims, and report suspicious activity. The initiative was amplified through extensive media coverage, compliance programmes, and grassroots events that connected with tens of thousands of people across communities.

The company’s drive for transparency comes as global figures have become more alarming. According to the 2024 Global State of Scams report by the Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA) and Feedzai, global financial losses linked to scams reached an estimated $1.03 trillion within 12 months, a statistic that stressed the urgency of corporate-led consumer protection initiatives.

“These awards are a validation of our efforts to fight back against those who misuse our brand name to defraud others,” said Trevor Kuna, chief marketing officer of QNET. “We are determined to protect the communities in which we operate and rebuild trust with our customers and stakeholders. Together, they affirm our commitment to responsible entrepreneurship and the values that drive us forward.”

QNET’s recognition at the IBAs places it among leading global brands celebrated for their commitment to integrity, communication excellence, and social responsibility.

Since its establishment in 1998, QNET has leveraged direct selling and e-commerce to distribute wellness and lifestyle products globally, building a vast network of entrepreneurs and customers. 

The company is a member of several direct selling associations and maintains partnerships with major sports organisations, including Manchester City Football Club and the Confederation of African Football (CAF), reflecting its growing international footprint.

With this license, Flutterwave is positioned to help businesses in Senegal scale by offering its full range of seamless digital payment services.

It further demonstrates the company’s commitment to connecting Africa to the global economy through world-class digital payment solutions.

Africa’s financial landscape is transforming with the rise of digital payments. As more innovations emerge to facilitate payments beyond traditional banking methods, trade is becoming more efficient, accessible, and inclusive.

This has led to major economic growth within African countries. Senegal is a large contributor to this shift. With 28% of adults using mobile money in Sub-Saharan Africa, Senegal represents a significant portion of the market, driving the growth of digital payments across the continent

Flutterwave’s fully licensed payments infrastructure empowers businesses to efficiently manage collections and payouts —streamlining operations and enabling seamless scalability.

For small and medium-sized businesses in Senegal, Flutterwave offers flexible payment options such as mobile money and cards.

Business owners can easily track transactions through a user-friendly dashboard and create payment links for seamless sharing on platforms like WhatsApp and Instagram—helping to break down traditional payment barriers and drive growth.

“It’s necessary to make payments as easy as possible across Afirica,” said Olugbenga ‘GB’ Agboola, founder/CEO of Flutterwave. “The continent is brimming with business opportunities, and Senegal, like many other Afirican nations, has the potential to be at the fiorefiront, radically contributing to the growth ofi Afirica’s digital economy. By reinfiorcing our commitment to delivering compliant, trusted, and filexible payment technologies fior businesses in Senegal, we are actively powering a new fiinancial fiuture fior the entire continent”.

Bode Aregbesola, senior vice president for Sales, West Africa, said:

“We know fiirsthand the payment hurdles that firustrate business owners, firom local businesses to large enterprises. At Flutterwave, we are set to provide secure technology and our extensive suite ofi products that directly solve these challenges, enabling them to unlock new revenue, manage payments efifiortlessly, and truly thrive as they scale within Senegal.”

This announcement follows Flutterwave’s recent commitment to offering licensed payment services in Cameroon.

Currently operating in over 60% of African countries, Flutterwave enables business growth and connects Africa to the global economy with seamless payments.

Analysing Google Trends data from 2022/23 on the #InternetShutdown, two of the three African nations – Ethiopia and Senegal – were the only new entries on the list with scores of 99/100 and 35/100.

Adding to this, Senegal’s 2023 purchasing demand for VPNs has reportedly increased by a massive 60,000%, and Ethiopia’s by 3651%.

Key insights on the findings:

• Searches across the top 10 countries increased an average of 97% from 2022– with not a single decrease showing that internet freedom is getting worse globally.
• Ethiopia was the highest new entry at #2with a VPN search score of 99 out of 100 due to the civil unrest that took place, with the government blocking access to social media in February 2023.
• African nations Senegal and Uganda feature in #9 and #10, respectively, due to their government’s continued efforts to censor critical speech.
• Turkmenistan was #1 across 2022-2023– with a max search score of 100 for both years – even though VPNs are technically considered illegal there.
• Afghanistan had the largest YoY increase of 156%, due to the Taliban’s continued efforts to censor Afghani’s internet.

The search and use of VPNs often indicates the need for citizens to bypass oppressive internet censorship (#InternetShutdown) imposed by their governments.

To understand more behind the results and rises, Techopedia looked at the political and cultural events that occurred in each country across 2023 and how they affected online activity.

Here’s a table breakdown of the research:

For additional context, the report also looks at the key insights of VPN users in general including VPN work vs. daily use, demographic data, and usage reasons. An infographic of this research (featured in the report) is open for use and can be accessed on this Google Drive.

Nick Francis, Editor of Techopedia, had this to comment on the research:

“Many of the countries featured come as no surprise considering their well-known restrictions towards online freedoms. The new entries and largest rises give an insightful look into how more current governments are quickly restricting internet access for their citizens as soon as civil unrest unfolds. It’s troubling, but not surprising. 

It’ll be interesting to follow these search trends going forwards and see how it correlates with further developments in each country.”

The continuous weaponisation of Internet shutdowns and blockage has been on the rise lately.

This will not be the first time Senegal is shutting down the Internet for its people, as is now characteristic of African governments during protests or when elections draw near.

Similarly, on Monday, 31 July 2023, Senegal restricted access to Internet services when the opposition leader Ousmane Sonki was formally charged to court for “fomenting insurrection” by the authorities.

Reacting to the internet shutdown in Senegal, PIN said: “These shutdowns go against Article Eight of Senegal’s 2001 Constitution which guarantees citizens’ freedom of opinion, freedom of expression, freedom of the press, freedom of association, freedom of assembly, and freedom of movement.

“Article 9 (1) of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights also provides access to information as the right to receive information and is echoed by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights under Article 19(2).
“Furthermore, shutdowns create significant obstacles that damage the free flow of information, which may in turn, erode trust in electoral processes and increase the likelihood of hostilities and violence.

“Shutdowns may also lead to the disruption of financial transactions, commerce, industry, labour markets, and the availability of platforms for the delivery of services, and above all, threat to the values of democracy,

“As spelt out by Principle 37 of the Declaration of Principles On Freedom Of Expression And Access To Information In Africa, States must facilitate the rights to freedom of expression and access to information online and the means necessary to exercise these rights.

“They must also recognise that universal, equitable, affordable, and meaningful access to the Internet is necessary for the realisation of freedom of expression, access to information, and the exercise of other human rights.

“The government’s explanation of “hateful” and “subversive” messages on social media was inadequate to warrant such drastic measures, including their legal basis and underlying grounds.

“Furthermore, PIN calls on the government of Senegal to adhere to the objective of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections, and Governance under Article 2(10) to promote the establishment of necessary conditions to foster citizen participation, transparency, access to information, freedom of the press and accountability in the management of public affairs. An open internet will ensure this compliance and the promotion of human rights under Article four of the same.

“We urge the government authorities to respect their citizens’ rights and desist from further attempts at future shutdowns”.

Created in 1988, now StarTimes have already made its digital TV and media service available to audience over 30 countries across Africa and thus achieved popularity and credit.

The opening of this main agency is part of the dynamics of a sustainable establishment, revealed Houssainatou Diallo, the public relations manager.

Established in Senegal since 2018 and in 30 African countries, the project “Access to satellite TV for 10,000 African villages”, aims to cover 600 villages in Senegal.

After the first phase, a first phase made it possible to access to satellite TV in 300 villages. The second phase is at 85 percent execution and will ends later in August.

According to her, the State and the Ministry of Communication will be responsible for checking on delivery of the project.

With regard to the 10,000 villages project, all the equipment is free, the beneficiaries of the project will be able to access the channels free of charge for a period of 3 months using the installed decoder at no expense.

Then a bouquet payable is applied to ensure a profound maintenance of the equipment provided by well-trained local technical experts.

Startimes offers three different packages to its customers in Senegal. It currently is broadcasting more than 600 channels across Africa, 157 out of which are for Senegal.

Meanwhile, Startimes group remains open to proposals of win-win partnerships with local media and content providers to co-benefit from a positive market while offering more value to audience.