Review Request for Exceptional Promise Application - Product Marketing Manager

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Hello everyone! Happy Holidays :christmas_tree: & Merry Christmas.

Thank you for the lovely work you do here. Today, I humbly request your valuable insights on my Global Talent visa (Exceptional Promise route) application. I’m a product‑marketing leader with about less than five years’ experience in African fintech, currently finalising my endorsement package. Could you please review my evidence listed below and share any suggestions?

Recommendation letters:

• LOR 1 – Former Chief Product Officer at Sterling Bank (now Executive Director at Peerless SGS). He oversaw my work on OneBank and Switch, including the “Share the Vibe” referral engine (56k users in two months), retention campaigns that recovered ₦194 M and the international remittance GTM for Switch.

• LOR 2 – President of the Association of Digital Marketing Professionals (ADMARP) and Regional Director at Aleph (Meta’s ASP for West Africa). He attests to my election as the first female President of ADMARP and recognises my data‑driven product‑marketing work in fintech.

• LOR 3 – CEO of Metaverse Magna and former Senior VP Marketing at Reliance Health. He supervised me for 18 months and highlights my product‑led experiments, A/B testing and cohort analyses that improved acquisition and retention. He also comments on my subsequent leadership at Sterling Bank and Zabira.

MC
• MC1: Leadership in Product Growth at Sterling Bank – Architected “Share the Vibe” campaign (56k users, 65.5% acquisition) and onboarding (103k users, ₦2.09B deposits), with third-party emails validating impacts. (Current role)

• MC2: ADMARP Presidency – Appointed as first female President for 2026, leading standards for thousands in fintech/tech, validated by founder letter and media.

• MC3: BrandCom Top 35 Under 35 (2025) – Top 0.1% from 30k nominations for exceptional promise in digital industry, with media coverage (ThisDay).

• MC4: National/Continental Recognition (Triple Crown) – ADMARP Top 25 (2023) and APMP Top 20 Africa (2025), with media (TechCabal, BusinessDay).

• MC5: High Remuneration – ₦15.32M annual package (+119% above Glassdoor benchmarks for fintech specialists), with contracts and performance raise.OC

(Optional Criteria – Focused on Beyond-Role and Contributions):

• OC6: Structured Mentorship – FCDC (2025) and Femme Lead Africa, upskilling women in product growth, featured in Guardian/Independent (millions readers).

• OC7: Co-Founder Fintech Africa – Authored 249+ articles educating 202k+ readers on fintech tools, voluntary since 2019, with founder letter.

• OC8: Thought Leadership – Vanguard feature (Sept 2025) on “Human-First Trust Framework” for SeaBaaS migration, with PM email validating 150% adoption/zero downtime.

• OC9: Zabira Commercial Impact – 74.1% user growth via campus strategy, validated by CEO letter and public report.

• OC10: Switch Market Expansion – 53% revenue surge to ₦2.62B through diaspora GTM, validated by supervisor. Head of Growth & Product

Questions:

• I have 10 pieces of evidence; is this too many, or should I consolidate some (e.g., combine mentorship/thought leadership in OC2)?

• For my current employer (Sterling), I don’t have a formal “high performer” letter, or emails praising specific campaigns – will this be an issue for MC1but I have a salary increase email that was due to my performance and I already added it to the salary evidence.

• One letter isn’t DocuSign-signed – is hand-signature ok, or must all be digital?

• For metrics in ₦, should I always include GBP equivalents (e.g., ₦2.62B ~£1.6M)?

• What are your thoughts on the overall structure? Is there anything I can add (e.g., more international ties) or adjust to improve chances?

Finally, what are your thoughts on the overall structure of my evidence? Is there anything else I should add or adjust to give myself the best chance of success?

I really need help. @Akash_Joshi @alexnk

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I think you have a potential for this. There are some area of improments, here are my comments:

MC:
I think it is too many evidence here. Can you combine some of them together? For instance:

  • MC2 and MC3 together?
  • MC5 may not consume much space of 1000 words or 3 pages, you can combine them to any other related evidence to make one stronger evidence.

under TechNation guideline, I guess that you are focusing on OC2 and OC3.

OC2: recognised for my work outside of my immediate occupation that contributed to the advancement of the digital technology sector
OC3: significant technical, commercial or entrepreneurial contributions

I think your OC2 and OC3 still need to be rearranged and make it strong evidence each. Read the TechNation guideline very carefully and put them together again. Try to aim 3 evidence for OC2 and OC3 each at least then.

10 pieces are good, but after combining some of them, just ensure that you have 1 very strong evidence in each criterion (MC, OC2, and OC3)

You can use the previous work employer’s letter, as long as it is within 5 years before your application date.

Thats fine. If it can be letterheaded to increase credibility, it will be great. The accessor may be in doubt of the authencity, and sometimes they might reach out to check that. That’s all.

answered earlier about structure. Overall I think you have a good chance for this.

I hope this helps @Sisilizzzy

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Thanks @alexnk been a lil under the weather just got better.

Thanks so much for your guidance and reply.

I am actually even doing a total overhaul.

So i have consolidated

I have Combine MC2 & MC4 (ADMARP together since they’re same association - got recognized in 2023 and then became president in 2025)

I am thinking to leave MC3 & 4 stand alone because they’re different awards but i will see if they can fit into one because they both have media recognitions. Or how do you think i can do this? They both have emails, pictures, award placards, media recognitions and even the BrandCom, i got a reference letter which already took one page.

Yes for the OC2 & 3 i have 3 evidences each right now just need to arrange it well.

Thanks so much.

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This is a strong and well-structured package overall, and you clearly meet the Exceptional Promise profile. Your leadership trajectory, recognition, and quantified impact are compelling. That said, there is one critical area you should tighten, particularly for MC1 (Sterling Bank).

1. Clarify product-level ownership within a non-product-led organisation

Banks are not inherently product-led environments, and Tech Nation reviewers are cautious when impact appears attributed to a large institution rather than the individual.

You should explicitly anchor your contribution to a clearly defined product or growth system, not the bank as an entity. For MC1, I strongly recommend you:

  • Clearly name the specific product(s) you owned (e.g., OneBank onboarding funnel, Switch referral engine, remittance GTM)
  • State your decision-making authority (e.g., “I owned growth strategy end-to-end,” “I defined the experiment roadmap,” “I approved go-to-market hypotheses”)
  • Distinguish your work from BAU marketing or corporate campaigns
  • Where possible, frame outcomes as product growth mechanisms, not marketing wins (e.g., activation, retention, cohort lift, funnel optimisation)

A short context paragraph at the start of MC1 explaining why this work was product-led despite being in a bank will materially reduce reviewer ambiguity.

2. Evidence volume: 10 is acceptable, but consolidation will strengthen signal

Ten pieces is not too many, but some can be strategically merged:

  • Mentorship + Thought Leadership can sit under a single OC if framed as “industry capacity-building”
  • Ensure each OC demonstrates clear personal agency and external impact, not participation

Quality and narrative coherence matter more than quantity.

3. Lack of “high performer” letter for Sterling

This is not fatal, but you must compensate with indirect performance validation, which you are already doing well:

  • Salary increase email explicitly linked to performance
  • Third-party emails validating outcomes
  • Supervisor / senior leader recommendation confirming ownership

If possible, ask one recommender to explicitly state you were a top performer relative to peers even one sentence helps.

4. Signatures: hand-signed letters are acceptable

DocuSign is not mandatory. Hand-signed letters are acceptable as long as:

  • They are on official letterhead
  • The referee’s role and contact details are clear

5. Currency: always include GBP equivalents

Yes, always include GBP conversions alongside ₦ figures. This improves reviewer comprehension and avoids underestimating scale. A simple parenthetical is sufficient.

6. Optional but powerful: light international framing

You already have strong regional impact. To further strengthen:

  • Emphasise diaspora, cross-border, or international user bases
  • Highlight any global frameworks, standards, or audiences your work influenced
  • Even modest international relevance, clearly articulated, helps.
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Thank you so much…i have even reshuffled everything again. Thank you so muchhhh

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Hello everyone, I am new here.

I am a product manager with 2+ experience in Healthcare, Edtech and AI. Haven’t done much on speaking engagement (been on volunteering roles to talk during Tech4dev initiatives with the tech girl drive).
Don’t know if I’m qualified.

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@techietwinmunmm An experienced Product Manager is eligible. If you have 2+ years of experience as a PM, along with experience working in tech-related roles or in roles where you can convincingly demonstrate that your skills are transferable in the last 5 years, you may apply through the Promise route. However, eligibility alone is not sufficient, there are additional criteria that must be met. I recommend reviewing the official Tech Nation guidance for more detailed information: https://technation-globaltalentvisa-guide.notion.site/

All the best.

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@Raphael Thank you. Will go through it.

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