Chatbots in Nigeria – Instant messaging is becoming trendier today, it has quickly become a means to everyday communication, and the use of voice search is also on the increase as well. As of 2015, 39.5% of mobile phone internet users in Africa and the Middle East used messaging apps to communicate. This figure is expected to increase to 42.9% by 2020.
Riding on this common trend is Chatbots; they were designed to convincingly simulate human behavior and engage in conversation via oral or text. Chatbots are popularly known as bots, they are gradually being used not only to provide customers service but for more insightful use; from customer support for business to romance and everyday life.
By performing both simple and programmed repetitive tasks, Chatbots provide a personalized user experience. According to one of PwC Consumer intelligence series, 14% of the sampled 2,500 US consumers see digital assistants as an adviser, and that figure is expected to increase to 17% shortly. Today, it is surely logical to conclude that Chatbots are already part of the solution to our everyday challenges.
How Nigeria Uses Chatbots
Below are the most creative uses of Chatbots in Nigeria
Financial Services
Even if we conjure that Africa may not be part of the projection that over 82% of all customer interactions in 2020 would be handled without a human agent, African businesses are already treading the path of using bots to attend to users. Not left out of this innovation are the Brick and Mortar financial institution. United Bank for Africa (UBA) recently launched heir Chatbots called UBA Leo, this is an AI-powered Facebook Messenger Bot, that allows its users to perform several banking transactions.
Also, Guarantee Trust Bank is giving customers access to customer service, airtime purchase, and Bank 737 shortcodes making use of Facebook Messenger.
Educational Services
Chatbots are already lending a helping hand to the likes of Cousera in making the process of online learning as effortless as it can be.
SimbiBot is an interactive learning assistant on the journey to prepare students for the dreaded Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and Post UTME. The Bot also assists students in making wise and informed career choices.
Headword, this is a productivity and utility platform teaching programming languages in an interactive environment.
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Educational Services
Chatbots are already lending a helping hand to the likes of Cousera in making the process of online learning as effortless as it can be.
SimbiBot is an interactive learning assistant on the journey to prepare students for the dreaded Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and Post UTME. The Bot also assists students in making wise and informed career choices.
Headword, this is a productivity and utility platform teaching programming languages in an interactive environment.
Romance
You can be sure to tell ‘OK Google’ to assist you in scheduling a meeting with someone or play your favorite song, but you may not even want to confess love to your crush or say something about it to someone else. Now it seems logical to come to trust the twitter handle to help us connect with our crush.
Similar to Tindler, Twinderbot is a Bot on twitter that is always looking to help you increase your chances of meeting with your crush. This is an indication that the use of Chatbots has gone beyond helping out with moving around the town or booking a room at a hotel.
With the promise never to reveal anybody’s target, Twinderbot is connecting people making use of a simple process:
Follow the twitter handle
Send a DM to the Bot with the handle of the someone you admire
If your crush, in turn, sends a DM with your handle, Twinderbot alerts you both that a connection has been established.
Opportunities for Nigerian businesses
No doubt that the cost of internet data remains something to content within Africa. However, having access to these Chatbots means that customers surely don’t need high-end internet access.
One of the most insightful things is that major telecom operators in Nigeria offer free daily access to messaging apps; this also implies that users can have access to customer services at almost no cost.
Do you own and operate a business in Nigeria? If yes, then you cannot afford to ignore introducing Chatbots to your business.
Chatbots would have more important roles to play in our daily lives years to come, thus the need for Nigerian businesses to take proper advantage of this enormous potential to better serve their customers while also winning over new ones.
