Tingo Mobile, Nigeria’s first domestic company outside of the resource sector to list on a global market, was mercilessly attacked by white America yesterday, as it finally made huge strides in its merger on Nasdaq, the New York based, world’s number one stock exchange.

The online stock picking chatrooms in the States, from reddit to telegram, became awash with monkey memes with cartoons and comments, spouting the N-word. How can New York call itself, the home of capital markets when it is struggling with basic civil rights. It is not surprising that markets such as those in the Middle East, India and Asia are growing so fast and the dollar as a global currency is diminishing. And its opur duty as Nigerians to stand up and protect our homegrown heros.

Tingo’s Nigerian founder Dozy Mmobousi is known for providing a successful digital Agri-fintech platform that allows over 11 million farmers to trade their goods in rural areas at low cost, with a ready hungry, market reducing the huge amount of wastage that can occur and ensuring food security in many parts of our country, This should make him an impact and ESG hero globally, but for a vocal minority in America this has made them only angrier.

The instigator of this unwanted hatred, is the founder of the Hindenburg Report, Nathan Anderson, a Jewish Wall Street insider, who has made more than a billion dollars in the last twelve months from these highly illegal shakedowns, known as “short and distort”. Mainly attacking the rich and famous like Africa-loving Jack Dorsey of Twitter fame or other billionaires like Guatam Adani, one of India’s richest men, the companies that Mr.Anderson normally attacks tend to be much bigger than $500mn market cap Tingo Group (TIO:Nasdaq).

It appears he makes an exception where Africans are concerned, he also raided Jumia, saying it was fake and did not exist and ignorant, racist America believed it. Mr. Anderson forced the CEO of Jumia to resign, and then made a fortune on the stock. He then followed up with an attack on Opera, Africa’s most popular browser again saying it was fake and had fake licences. He does not care how he damages the digital revolution in Africa which has been the single most important constituent of growth on our continent. He just wants to smash and grab and he is never happier than when his financial knee is on Africa’s neck. Mr.Anderson is the Banker against the Unbanked.

How the hustle works

Hindenburg Research works in collaboration with about 10 “investors” who fund its operations. The firm prepares its investigation report on a target company in six or months by going through its public records and internal corporate documents, as well as talking to its employees. The report is first submitted to the firm’s “investors”, allowing them to take a short position before the report is made public. Hindenburg takes a cut of the profits made on that short trade. Throughout New York the Hindenburg Report is known as the “Hindenburg Hustle”.

In this instance, involving Africa, Mr.Anderson did not have to spend the usual 6 months on due diligence. He assumed, naturally, that New York would never side with a black person against him. In the United States, where innocent black men are still routinely executed, it doesn’t take a mocking bird to tell which way, an all-white jury is going to decide.

In fact, up until a week ago or so, Mr.Anderson had not even heard of Tingo Group. So what motivated him? The rumour on Wall Street is that Mr.Anderson did it as a favour to a friend. The hijacking of Africa’s number one Agri-Fintech, and the robbing of all the retail investors the Good Americans who wanted to invest in something that made a difference, was barely given a thought by today’s most powerful man on Wall Street, Mr.Anderson.

A month before, a mid-tier Bank, that describes itself as one of the United States’ oldest and most trusted financial institutions, approached Tingo Group with an offer to invest nearly $50million. At first they were turned down. But the Bank became very insistent. Eventually, the board of Tingo Group agreed to take the money. The share price of Tingo had in this period raced, inexplicably, from 80 cents to $4.00. Even though very undervalued (what unconsciously biased institutional America called “the Africa Discount”) at less than one times revenue, Tingo had rarely traded above a dollar. Fair Value estimates suggested if this had been an American business it would have traded above twenty dollars.

Then it came to the notice of the board that the Bank may be paying for the investment by simultaneously shorting the stock. An illegal activity called a “naked short”. Shorting the stock after a pump of over ten times would have made the Bank a fortune. The Board refused the money. This refusal is important, in the history of finance, a scammer has never refused the money!

Now stuck on a “naked short”, the Bank was now not only going to lose a fortune, they were also were now arguably in a conspiracy to defraud and other criminality. They did what they had to do to force the price down and got into league with a gang of paid commentators, including enlisting support of ultra far-right Share-Prophet blog, which is run by a man thrown out of politics for his racist views who regularly calls Africa “Bongo-Bongo Land”. Despite their attacks, lies and “short and distort” techniques the share price remained strong and the Bank was hurting.

That was when the favour was called in and someone associated with both the bank and the shady Ten Investors behind Mr.Anderson and the Hindenburg Hustle suggested this as his next lucrative target. Mr.Anderson sent out a “cut and paste” report and crashed the Tingo stock. Mr.Anderson, perhaps unwittingly, or perhaps knowingly, became an active agent in an elaborate “pump-and-dump” scheme.

Well that’s the rumour!

The Hindenburg Hustle serves no purpose but to enable its shady investors to engage in pump-and-dump activity through naked shorts and by distorting the truth to their own advantage. Its result is the destruction of the hard-earned pensions and savings of good Americans and hard-working people in the emerging world looking to America for support. It is hoped that Mary Leonard, US Ambassador to Nigeria relays our nation’s upset at how our people including our farmers who rely on Tingo to the US Justice Department who with the US Securities and Exchange Commission have been investigating market manipulation by people like Mr.Anderson who work with short sellers and hedge funds around the publication of negative research reports. The world is watching to see if New York can clean up its act.

Femi Omoniyi, a public affairs commentator writes from Lagos