Broadcasting
Modern Customer Engagement: Keeping up with Gen Y and Z
By Andrew Bourne, Regional Manager, Africa, Zoho Corp.
The term ‘customer engagement’ is arguably one of the biggest buzzwords in today’s business landscape. It’s so widely used that when many people hear the phrase, they interpret it as a checkbox item. It is, however, an ongoing crucial relationship between a company and its customers, which is determined by the customer’s preferences and behaviour.
Andrew Bourne, Regional Manager, Africa, Zoho Corp
Customer engagement entails actively engaging with an audience through messaging that interests, educates or helps them, as well as encouraging two-way communication with your business. In short, it’s about figuring out what the customer wants and giving it to them at the right time.
This may appear to be a simple and straightforward task. However, in today’s world, where the majority of a business’s customer base is composed of the digital-native ‘millennials and zoomers’, the consumer has little patience for complicated processes in the name of customer engagement. So what does this mean for you as a business, and how can you adapt to this new market reality and ensure that your engagement techniques are actually engaging?
Preparing for a mobile-led shift
Mobile use has surpassed laptop use, and today’s target audience is more likely to look something up on their phones or tablets than on a device.
According to the GSMA’s The Mobile Economy Sub-Saharan Africa report, the mobile market in Sub-Saharan Africa will reach several significant milestones over the next five years: including half a billion mobile subscribers in 2021, 1 billion mobile connections in 2024, and 50% subscriber penetration by 2025. Over the next five years, the number of smartphone connections in Sub-Saharan Africa will nearly double to reach 678 million by the end of 2025, representing a 65% adoption rate.
It is, therefore, no longer an option to provide a mobile-friendly website or customer support portals – it is now a requirement.
Catering to the ‘always-connected’ generation
Being accessible to current and potential customers is the most important aspect of customer interaction. This is particularly challenging in today’s setting, where time and geography are no longer important and the customer expects businesses to be reachable at all hours of the day and night.
While the advent of chatbots has eliminated the need for businesses to hire additional employees to cover multiple shifts, bringing developers onboard to build bots that can meet multiple requirements can end up being costly too. Instead, try thinking along the lines of using a sales engagement software that provides easy-to-use features like drag-and-drop chatbot builders.
Making AI chatbots more human
Though chatbots were invented to free up staff from mundane tasks so they can focus on the more complex ones, research shows that customers find it harder to get issues resolved by AI chatbots. The ideal solution is an AI-driven chatbot that can greet prospects or customers, respond to small talk, and even understand common questions, regardless of the tone or words used, and respond to them using a company’s internally available documented resources. If the customer chooses to speak with a human agent, the AI-powered chatbot will forward the conversation to the team member.
Personalising your messaging without over targeting
While personalisation is widely regarded as the pinnacle of customer engagement, it’s all too easy at the same time to cross the line between being helpful and being intrusive when dealing with a more privacy-conscious generation of customers. So make sure your conversation is relevant and provide timely information to your most valuable customers right when they need it, like an offer for help after a failed transaction, or when they’ve spent a long time trying to decide between two products.
Achieving business zen with a unified customer view
Many of us fall prey to ad fatigue and endless re-targeting. While it’s frustrating, it throws light on the fact that customer data is still jumbled, redundant, or even mismanaged chunks of information. Businesses should make sure that they use a CRM tool that gives a holistic view of customer data, and helps avoid any missteps in data management and customer communication.
A customer engagement strategy is critical to the success of any business. Customers who are actively engaged not only spend more money, but also become a company’s best brand advocate and recommend the business to their friends, colleagues, and family.
Mr. Tim Akano, New Horizons Chief Executive Officer, took centre stage at the Nigerian Information Technology Reporters’ Association (NITRA) annual end-of-year meeting on Thursday, December 18, 2025, recounting the company’s remarkable growth and reaffirming free IT training for journalists.
Tim Akano, New Horizons Chief Executive Officer, in a group photograph with NITRA Members
Speaking directly to IT media members at the company’s training facility in Lagos, Akano acknowledged the critical role journalists played in supporting New Horizons during its formative years two decades ago.
He detailed how the firm evolved from a handful of staff to one of Africa’s leading ICT skills training organisations, now employing about 500 staff across multiple training centres nationwide.
Akano Spotlights Youth Training, University Partnerships
Akano highlighted that New Horizons has trained over 500,000 youths, particularly tertiary institution students, equipping them with practical IT skills essential for Nigeria’s digital economy.
He announced recent partnerships with universities, including a new agreement with Afe Babalola University, to scale hands-on training programmes for students.
“This growth would not have been possible without the media’s support in documenting our journey,” Akano stated, pledging continued free IT skills training for media members to remain competitive in the evolving digital landscape.
Reciprocal Support Defines Long-Standing Partnership
The venue hosting the NITRA meeting underscored Akano’s generosity; NITRA Secretary Chidiebere Nwankwo secured the free facility after contacting him—a gesture consistent with New Horizons hosting multiple association events and training IT journalists since its inception 20 years ago.
Participants shared personal testimonies of Akano’s support, including veteran journalist Aaron Ukodie, whose daughter—an Accounting graduate from the University of Johannesburg—received NYSC placement and IT scholarship at New Horizons.
The Guardian’s Yemi Adeyemi recounted Akano accommodating his editor’s child for mandatory IT training after other firms declined.
Members praised Akano’s commitment to human capital development as evidence of deep appreciation for the media community that chronicled New Horizons’ success over two decades.
National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has launched the NIMC Pre-Enrolment Portal to revolutionise the National Identification Number (NIN) enrolment process, enabling applicants within Nigeria and in the Diaspora to capture biodata online prior to biometric verification at enrolment centres.
NIMC
Accessible via penrol.nimc.gov.ng, the platform allows users to fill enrolment forms, schedule appointments, upload supporting documents securely, and manage personal details directly, thereby slashing congestion, minimising wait times, boosting data accuracy and enhancing overall service efficiency at centres nationwide.
NIMC Director-General and CEO, Engr. (Dr) Abisoye Coker-Odusote, spearheaded the initiative as part of the Commission’s technology-driven strategy to fortify institutional performance, aligning with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda that emphasises digital transformation, efficient public service delivery and inclusive national development.
Dr Kayode Adegoke, Head of Corporate Communications, highlighted key benefits including simplified biodata handling, confidential data protection through robust security measures, reduced physical centre visits and heightened operational effectiveness, urging all prospective enrollees to adopt the portal for a faster, citizen-friendly experience.[conversation_history]
The move underscores NIMC’s mandate under the NIMC Act No. 23 of 2007 to manage the National Identity Database, issue NINs and foster a reliable digital identity ecosystem vital for national planning, with users advised to complete pre-enrolment online before heading to selected centres for biometrics.
MultiChoice Talent Factory (MTF), a Pan-African film and television training institution, has announced the opening of applications for its 2026 intake.
MultiChoice
The fully funded programme is open to African graduates aspiring to become directors, filmmakers, scriptwriters, producers and storytellers.
According to MultiChoice, the nine-month accredited curriculum combines online learning with intensive in-person training, and is designed to balance theoretical knowledge with practical immersion.
MTF academies are located in Kenya, Nigeria and Zambia, and serve aspiring filmmakers from 14 African countries. Since its inception in 2018, the initiative has trained 296 filmmakers, with graduates producing more than 42 movies aired on DStv, GOtv and Showmax platforms.
Organisers said alumni of the programme have gone on to establish over 50 production companies, while many continue to work within the MultiChoice ecosystem.
Graduates have also won accolades at the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards, Kalasha Awards, Uganda Film Festival and Women in Film Awards.
Applications for the 2026 intake close on Feb. 27, 2026. Interested candidates can visit https://apo-opa.co/3XW53oE for programme requirements.
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