A TWEET IN TIME!

FROM THE GOLDMIND By Enefiok Udo-Obong

As social media buzz continues to consume the populace, sports has been one industry where the platforms have been very active. It is not uncommon to see leaders of nations use these platforms to get their messages across to their people. Immediate past US President, Donald Trump, was very active on twitter while the same social media platform ran into troubled waters for trying to censor the Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari. However some leaders have used the platform for more innovative ways to help their country in these trying times.

In their opening 2021/22 Premier League match, Arsenal FC lost to newly promoted Brentford and the criticisms were numerous. One however stood out. Rwandan President and Arsenal fan, Paul Kagame, vented his frustration at the club’s shock defeat by a newly promoted club on the opening day of the English Premier League season. “We just must NOT excuse or Accept mediocrity. A team has to be built with purpose to win win win. So that when we lose….it was not to be expected! I am sure we all know on whose shoulders the heaviest burden rests. I hope they know too or even accept it!!! End.” He tweeted. In two further rapid-fire tweets, he demanded “a plan that really works” and lamented that “fans don’t deserve to kind of get used to this”.

While a lot of people criticized him for making such a statement as a public figure and leader of a country, over his perceived pastime and affection for love of a ‘foreign’ soccer team, it goes beyond that. The president is not just a fan, but a major stake holder. Since 2018, the Rwandan government has had a controversial sponsorship deal worth more than £30m, which involves a “Visit Rwanda” logo displayed on Arsenal shirt sleeves. For a country that depends a huge deal on tourism for its foreign reserve, the results of Arsenal FC economically affects the country.

For a country recovering from years of war, it would seem at first glance like a subsidy to a rich British club, but the Rwandan Government would tell you it’s an investment in tourism. And quite rightly so. The three-year partnership, known to be one of the biggest sleeve sponsorship deals in Premier League history, divided opinions when it was announced. Many questioned the intentions of Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame, a committed Arsenal fan, in spending such money when his country is one of the poorest countries in the world.

However, early results of the sponsorship showed that the Rwandan Government had made a return on Investment of 36 million pounds in its first year alone. The Rwanda Development Board (RDB) had reported that the country had already recouped the £30 million investment, based on analytics provided by sports research and consulting firm Nielsen, social media and sponsorship measurement provider Blinkfire Analytics and research agency Hall and Partners.

Belise Kariza, the RDB chief tourism officer, said that the agreement factored into the 1.7 million people tourists that visited Rwanda in 2018 thanks to the brand exposure Arsenal gave to Visit Rwanda. There were also reported assorted returns are in the form of quantum jump in visitations to Rwanda from United Kingdom (UK), and other destinations.

To put things into proper commercial context at the global levels, Rwanda had built, from scratch, over a 10-year stretch, a niche tourism product that needed visibility befitting its invested dollars on the ground.

A conservative estimate of the entire value chain that Rwanda was marketing under “the visit Rwanda” deal comes to more than US$1 billion in form of both hard and soft infrastructure.

This includes a relatively good number of high-end hotels and lodges, the air transit system comprising the national carrier RwandAir and its associated services such as Kanombe International Airport, tours and travel services as well as a diversified menu known as MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions).

Rwanda’s football sponsorship deals are therefore instrumental from a strict commercial perspective in a number of ways.

First, Rwanda, tiny as it is perceived, is the first African economy to link the region’s tourism destination with the lucrative source markets of Europe using football as a commercial medium. Second is the unique business model at play. Rwanda is paying top dollar just like any other advertiser would be asked to pay. It is entitled to get high marketing returns. In the world of corporate sponsorship, leading companies of the world pay through their noses to get similar slots that was offered to Rwanda by Arsenal FC. Thirdly, football is very big business in Europe. Most leading European teams are owned and run by highly successful business leaders.

Reports say Google search for “Rwanda” for first two weeks of the deal yielded a 1,000% increment while the official Visit Rwanda social media channels saw a huge growth with instagram registering over 577% jump, Twitter by over 77% growth and Facebook registering over 44% growth.

The results of the sponsorship was encouraging, the results of Arsenal on the pitch was not. Rwanda’s president had seen visibility lost in Arsenal’s failure to qualify for European football and especially the Champions League, he was going to wait to see the team battle relegation. He complained openly. Arsenal responded quickly by spending 65 million pounds completing two transfers, and again Rwanda acknowledged by signing a new 3-year contract worth about 10 million pounds a year.

If these investments bring benefits on and off the pitch for Arsenal and Rwanda respectively, only time will tell but from the actions swiftly taken soon after the match that was lost, Paul Kigame can be proud that his was a tweet in time.