Industry stakeholders, including investors that attended the quarterly UBA Business Series in Lagos, organised by the United Bank for Africa (UBA), have called on business developers and business owners to pay more attention to customers’ challenges than the solutions they developed to solve such challenges.
According to them, consumers’ feedback is necessary for business growth and sustainability. They insisted that until the consumer accepted the solution and product and had reasons to pay for them, the developer would not boast of a product that is commercially
The UBA Business Series, with the theme: ‘Building for Africa’s Realities: Turning Consumer Feedback into Technology-Driven Solutions’, brought together, investors, business owners, entrepreneurs, startups, and innovators in Africa’s technology ecosystem, to discuss how consumer insights can be transformed into innovative and technology-driven solutions that drive business growth across the African continent.
In her opening remarks, the Group Head, Remittances at UBA, Mrs. Uzoamaka Onyeka, said the UBA Business Series was about fostering meaningful conversations among industry leaders that would help grow small business and startups to scale.
“Africa’s greatest opportunities for innovation are always based on the realities of its people. The most effective solutions are built not on assumptions, but on addressing and listening to our customers and providing responses to their needs.
Customer feedback is more than insight. At UBA, we have a philosophy that addresses how the insight from the customer will help us build the foundation for innovation. And that innovation, when combined with technology, enables us to create solutions that are relevant, inclusive, scalable, and transformative.”
Head, Enterprise Sales for Bvndles at UBA, Mr. Oluseyi Seyi Johnson, spoke about the challenges facing small businesses and how UBA has used customer feedback to develop technology-driven solutions that have addressed some of the challenges.
“Today, consumers are navigating rising costs, and countless digital choices. But SMEs are also facing high acquisition costs, thinner margins, and customers that easily switch brands. For SMEs to remain in business and compete favourably, customer feedback is key. It’s no longer a marketing campaign. It’s really about creating critical business infrastructure, whether you’re an enterprise or you’re an SME,” Johnson said.
He also spoke about the Leo chatbot that is helping customers to innovate and transact better.
During a panel session, there was a consensus among panelists that financial inclusion, the creative economy, sports, and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) represent the sectors most likely to produce Africa’s next billion-dollar companies.
Speaking at the panel session, moderated by Technology Leader & Innovation Strategist, Adaora Mbelu, the panelists discussed consumer pain-points and how solution developers could leverage technology in addressing customer challenges.
Co-founder & CEO, Chowdeck, Mr. Femi Aluko, who featured as one of the panelists, said customers needs and demands increased by the day, which Chowdeck saw and created a platform where customers could transact at the best prices, and solve their challenges. He spoke about the need for additional investments for business expansion in order to meet customers’ needs.
Another panelist, a Nigerian rapper, songwriter, producer, entrepreneur, founder, and CEO of Creative Entrepreneur, Investor & Technology Advocate, Mr. Jude Abaga, popularly known as M.I., stressed the need for business owners and business developers to leverage AI technology for business efficiency and scalability. He spoke about the need for integration of technology with entertainment in order to do scripting in song writing and edit digital video with ease that will produce the best of music.
“In video production and songwriting, people are colouring, editing, and creating podcasts, using AI and software. And that’s the hope, that we are able to learn quickly enough and leverage AI to amplify what we are naturally good at,” Abaga said.
Another panelist, who is the Managing Partner, Octerra Capital, Ashim Egunjobi, stressed the need for content creators and business developers to pay more attention to the challenges of the consumer, rather than focusing more on the solution they are developing for the market.
“At Octerra Capital, we do equity and venture capital and we believe that having the right debt element at a certain time in a business, especially a fast-growing business, will enable those businesses to rise to fast-track growth,” Egunjobi, said.
