Broadcasting
5 Core Business Areas where AI can Drive Revenue
By Kehinde Ogundare, Country Manager, Zoho Nigeria.
According to the United Nations, artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to contribute up to $15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030 – of which $1.2 trillion could be generated by Africa. With the potential to unlock significant growth and development in key industries across the continent, AI is fundamentally changing how businesses operate, driving innovation, improving efficiencies, and transforming lives.
Kehinde Ogundare, Country Manager, Zoho Nigeria
Businesses of all sizes that have already invested in AI are reaping its benefits, from increasing business productivity and agility to improving customer experience and decision-making with McKinsey noting that AI leaders are outperforming their industry peers by a factor of 3.4.
But if businesses are to make the most of the opportunities offered by AI, it’s also important that it be deployed in the areas where it will have the greatest impact. Here are some areas and subsequent examples of how businesses can use AI within those areas to drive revenue.
1. Finance and billing
One of the most obvious places AI can help drive revenue in a business is in finances and billing. Having an accurate, up-to-date overview of finances can help an organisation know when to invest in growth, for example. And if a business wants a steady revenue flow, it must send out bills, invoices, and payment reminders on time.
Here, AI can help in several ways. When it comes to expense bills, for example, an AI tool with built-in image recognition would allow a business to scan its bills with the system, then auto-generate the amount, place, date, time, and category of expense, helping save loads of time and effort. For billing, meanwhile, AI can greatly speed up the onboarding process for new clients by automating large parts of it. AI-powered tools can also extract relevant information from invoices, including customer details and product descriptions, and automatically populate billing systems, creating further efficiency.
2. Lead prioritisation
Another key area is new business leads. More specifically, AI can help assess the calibre of leads that the sales team is bringing in. After all, two or three great leads can be more beneficial than 10 weak ones.
Using a points-based system, AI can help score leads according to their quality. That allows the sales team to better evaluate which leads are worth pursuing. In turn, that should allow them to make more sales at a more meaningful level.
3. Improved customer experience
Customer experience (CX), rather than product or price differences, has been the major differentiator for businesses for some time now. Customers are willing to spend more, are more likely to stay loyal, and recommend a business to friends and family if they have a good experience with it.
Businesses, therefore, need to pull out more stops than ever to ensure that their customer experience really stands out. Here again, AI can be helpful. Take sentiment analysis, for example. AI can help identify the most disgruntled customers, allowing customer success teams to focus on their needs and turn their experience of the business around.
4. Better targeted marketing
The most effective marketing today is highly personalised and targeted. AI can make it significantly easier to achieve the level of targeted personalisation necessary for marketing success today. Once integrated with a company’s data, an AI marketing tool can create and hone personalised marketing content based on each individual customer’s CRM data.
5. Enhanced employee productivity
There is a strong correlation between employee productivity and revenue. Employee productivity is in turn driven by positive employee experiences. The more productive your employees are, the higher your revenues and profit margins will be. AI can help improve both productivity and the overall employee experience by automating repetitive tasks, allowing employees to focus on the kind of meaningful work that drives increased revenues.
Embrace AI, but use the right providers
While AI can add immense value when it comes to driving revenue within organisations, it’s also critical that businesses know what they’re getting into when embracing AI. That means doing comprehensive background research and ensuring that they choose tools that meet their needs and adhere to privacy best practices.
Mrs. Clementine Wamba, head, Digital Switch Over (DSO) at the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), has stressed the need for broadcasting stations and practitioners nationwide to work towards meeting the 2028 global deadline for the switch over.
She made the call in her presentation titled, “DSO Big Picture: Free TV Audience Measurement and the Evolving Media Landscape”, at the 2026 NBC South West Summit held in Ibadan.
Wamba harped on the need for practitioners to adopt DSO in the transmission of news and other programmes in order to meet future challenges, stating that any country that fail to align with the DSO by 2028 will be shut out of practice.
This development, according to her, may result in job losses and other consequences that could hinder the growth of the industry in Nigeria, noting that Free TV is tailored towards the DSO, with provision for many channels in contrast to the age-long analogue system.
According to her, “The Digital Switch Over is a technological improvement on the age-long analogue style of broadcasting in the country. With the adoption of the DSO, practitioners will be in tune with global practice of broadcast journalism.
“Also, its benefits include efficient use of spectrum, changing of industry landscape, more access to national development programmes and better viewing experience.”
National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has said that Nigerians will no longer pay annual Digital Access Fees under the renewed Digital Switch Over (DSO) project.
Charles Ebuebu, director-general, NBC, disclosed this in an exclusive interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja,
Ebuebu said viewers only need to purchase an approved decoder and satellite dish which cost below N20,000 to enjoy free television permanently.
“Previously, users paid an annual digital access fee of about N1,500, described as an administrative charge.
“The new system removes that annual fee. It provides free access to free-to-air television channels without any payment.
“Premium channels will be introduced later. Viewers who want those additional channels will be able to access them through paid services.
“Nigerian content on free-to-air channels remains free to watch. Unlike Pay TV, this platform does not require monthly subscriptions for its basic service,” he said
Ebuebu said approved decoders for the FreeTV will cost less than N20,000 and authorised sales outlets will soon be announced.
He urged Nigerians to wait for official information on approved dealers for the DSO decoders, warning that unauthorised sellers are exploiting growing public demand.
He reiterated that people only need a free-to-air decoder, along with a satellite dish instead of the old antenna system to receive the DSO signal.
“Once the equipment is installed, viewers can access all available channels across the country without paying any subscription fees,” he stressed
The DG dismissed claims by some retailers that there are different categories of decoders sold at varying prices, stressing that such sellers are not authorised by the commission.
According to him, the NBC will soon publish the list of approved dealers, official prices, and locations where genuine decoder boxes and accessories can be purchased.
The NBC boss said the DSO project is designed not only to improve television broadcasting but also to stimulate economic growth by creating jobs, attracting investment, and opening up opportunities for businesses that support the broadcasting industry.
Ebuebu noted that content producers and broadcasters stand to benefit significantly from the nationwide reach of the DSO platform.
Unlike the previous system, where many stations had limited regional audiences, he said the new platform will make their channels available to viewers across Nigeria.
He added that the introduction of audience measurement technology will provide scientific and reliable data on television viewership.
Ebuebu added that audience measurement technology will give advertisers greater confidence in placing adverts and enable broadcasters to demonstrate the true size and reach of their audiences nationwide.
Uchenna Mbunabo, Nigerian filmmaker, has raised concerns over the alleged unauthorised broadcast of Nollywood films by some Ghanaian television stations, calling on Ghana’s National Film Authority (NFA) to strengthen the enforcement of copyright laws.
Uchenna Mbunabo, Nigerian filmmaker
Mbunabo made the remarks during a conversation with James Gardiner, deputy CEO of the National Film Authority (NFA) of Ghana.
He questioned whether it was permissible for television stations in Ghana to download Nigerian movies from YouTube and air them without obtaining permission from the producers.
“I noticed that Ghanaian TV stations, the way they are stealing our films and showing them for free with impunity. Is it legalised in your country for TV stations to go on YouTube, download people’s sweat and show it for free?”
According to Mbunabo, some Ghanaian television stations have been downloading newly released Nollywood films from YouTube and broadcasting them without authorisation, depriving producers of revenue generated through the platform.
He also stated that he had not witnessed Nigerian television stations engaging in similar practices and questioned what measures Ghana was taking to protect filmmakers’ intellectual property.
Responding to the concerns, Gardiner acknowledged that the issue exists and said the National Film Authority had begun engaging relevant stakeholders to address it.
He disclosed that the NFA has held discussions with the Ministry of Communications, the National Communications Authority (NCA) and the National Media Commission (NMC) on improving copyright enforcement.
Gardiner explained that while Ghana has copyright laws, enforcement remains challenging because many television stations now operate digitally and may not have physical offices within the country.
“There are copyright laws, but they are not effective because a lot of the TV stations don’t have offices. Most of them are now digital, so they operate from anywhere. They can even have a Ghanaian TV station but be operating from Austria simply because it is digital.”
He added that authorities are considering a new licensing framework that would require broadcasters to undergo a fresh licensing process to improve monitoring and enforcement.
According to Gardiner, television stations found guilty of illegally broadcasting copyrighted content would be required to compensate affected producers through fines.
He added that repeat offenders could face suspension of their broadcasting licences, while a third violation could result in the revocation of their licences.
Although he did not provide a specific timeline, Gardiner said the reforms were already underway and expressed hope that significant progress would be seen next year.
Mbunabo welcomed the proposed measures but urged the National Film Authority to expedite the process, stating that unauthorised broadcasts continue to affect filmmakers’ ability to recover production costs through legitimate distribution channels such as YouTube.
He also stressed that his comments were not directed at Ghana’s film industry, noting that he has worked with several Ghanaian actors over the years and supports collaborations between Nollywood and Ghallywood.
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