Telecom
Zoho Survey Highlights Productivity Loss in Nigerian Businesses from Disconnected Tools
Zoho, a leading global technology company, today unveiled the results of its study, “The State of Productivity and Collaboration in Nigeria, 2024”, which surveyed over 500 organisations with more than 50 employees across the country.
The findings reveal critical workplace productivity challenges, including the overwhelming impact of data silos resulting from fragmented systems and inefficient app usage.
The survey study also highlights the growing demand for unified platforms, which can help businesses streamline employee collaboration.
“Nigerian businesses have adopted a variety of cloud tools over the years to support their digital transformation journey. However, they are beginning to recognise that these disconnected tools often lack integration with their existing technology stack, creating silos that hinder collaboration and lead to productivity losses.
“As this issue gains attention, the demand for unified collaboration platforms with advanced AI capabilities has surged, as corroborated by the survey findings. In Nigeria, we’ve observed a notable increase in the adoption of Zoho Workplace, reflecting this trend.
“Zoho Workplace set the standard for a unified experience as early as 2017, well ahead of the industry giants. It offers not just a unified interface, but brings contextual data to the forefront, saving time, and enabling users to focus on what truly matters,” said Kehinde Ogundare, Country Head, Zoho Nigeria.
Key Findings from the Study
The study shows that 55% of Nigerian businesses have adopted a fully on-site work model, while 31% operate in a hybrid setup, and the remaining 14% were in completely remote roles.
Most remote roles are held by individual contributors with limited collaboration requirements, while hybrid workers face significant barriers in maintaining effective communication.
The survey also revealed that 51% of employees use 1–5 apps daily, 35% use 6-10 apps, while 14% rely on more than 10 apps. App usage is higher among senior executives, with 81% of the C-Suite employees using more than 10 apps, while 72% of junior employees use 1-5 apps.
The most commonly used tools are for productivity and collaboration (68%), followed by project management (47%), business intelligence (47%), and accounting (43%). Despite widespread app usage, only 50% of the respondents track their tasks in a unified view, with higher adoption rates among the C-Suite (78%) and senior leadership (63%).
Productivity Challenges and Opportunities
For the Nigerian workforce, the biggest collaboration challenge is poor WiFi/data connectivity (80%), across demographics. This indicates the need for solutions that have an offline mode and can work in lower data connectivity.
Other collaboration challenges are digital fatigue (54%), and information spread across too many apps (45%). For middle managers, the second biggest challenge, after poor WiFi, is communication with employees in a remote or hybrid setup.
According to the respondents, the most effective way to improve productivity in Nigerian workplaces is to enable quick access to necessary information from different apps (78%), followed by adoption of new technologies like AI (72%), and the ability to communicate from within business apps (55%).
There is a clear demand for unified collaboration platforms bolstered with AI capabilities that can be integrated into existing software ecosystems. Such solutions will not only help in reducing the time taken to do the job, but can also reduce digital fatigue as one will not have to juggle multiple apps.
The Economic Outlook
As per the survey, 51% of the respondents said their organisation had adopted new technology to prepare themselves for the economic challenges. Those who said their companies had adopted new technology were more positive about the ability of their company to deal with the competition (rating 4 out of 5) than those who said their company had not adopted new technology (rating a little over 3 out of 5). However, largely, respondents feel their companies are adequately prepared to face economic challenges (57%).
In fact, according to the findings, slow adoption of emerging technologies like AI emerged as the most significant factor hindering their ability to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving market, cited by 46% of the respondents. Other reasons cited as causing competitive disadvantages were low adoption of digital tools (45%), and employees switching between too many apps (41%).
Zoho Workplace
Zoho Workplace is a unified collaboration platform that brings together communication, collaboration, and productivity applications, showing all relevant information and tasks in a single view. It comprises email, chat, online meeting, webinar, office suite (word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation), file storage, and social intranet.
Technology Company, Globacom, has announced significant reductions in its International Direct Dialing (IDD) rates, making international calls more affordable for its existing and new customers across Nigeria.
Effective August 10, the new rates began applying to over 15 popular international destinations, including United States which will has moved to ₦30 per minute, down from ₦35, United Kingdom is now N350 from ₦400, while India also moved down to ₦40 from N45.
The rates for China, Saudi Arabia and Cameroon however recorded major reduction moving to N75, N300 and ₦700 respectively.
The reduction was also extended to African countries including Benin Republic which goes for ₦650 per minute, Niger Republic ₦750, Ghana ₦500, and Togo ₦650. United Arab Emirates also moved from ₦450 to ₦325, Germany to ₦550, Côte d’Ivoire ₦700, Libya ₦700, while calls to Malawi is now N1,100 from ₦1,200.
Glo aims to provide more value for its customers through these revised rates, encouraging them to make Glo their preferred network for international calls. New IDD bundles will also be introduced, offering frequent international callers even more attractive deals.
Globacom, which remained optimistic that frequent international callers will benefit immensely from the reductions in IDD bundles, enjoined customers to take advantage of the new rates to stay connected with friends and business associates across the globe.
President Bola Tinubu has appointment members into the boards of the Nigerian Communications Commission and the Universal Service Provision Fund, both under the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy.
The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday.
According to the statement, Idris Olorunnimbe was named Chairman of the NCC board, while Dr Aminu Wada will continue as Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, a position he was appointed to in October 2023 and confirmed by the Senate the following month.
Onanuga said Olorunnimbe previously served on the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund Board, where he chaired the Stakeholder and Governance Committee.
Other NCC board members are Abraham Oshidami (Executive Commissioner, Technical Services), Rimini Makama (Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management), Hajia Maryam Bayi, Col Abdulwahab Lawal (retd.), Senator Lekan Mustafa, Chris Okorie, Princess Oforitsenere Emiko, and the board secretary.
The President also approved the board of the USPF, chaired by the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, with Olorunnimbe as Vice Chairman.
Other members are Oshidami, Makama, Aliyu Edogi Aliyu (representative of FMCIDE), Joseph B. Faluyi (representative of the Federal Ministry of Finance), Auwal Mohammed (representative of FMBNP), Uzoma Dozie, Peter Bankole, Abayomi Anthony Okanlawon, Gafar Oluwasegun Quadri, and the USPF secretary.
See the statement below:
PRESIDENT TINUBU APPOINTS BOARD MEMBERS FOR NCC AND USPF
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has constituted the boards of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF), both agencies under the supervision of the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy.
Idris Olorunnimbe was appointed Chairman of NCC, while Dr Aminu Waida remains its Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer.
President Tinubu appointed Wada to the position in October 2023, and the Senate confirmed the appointment in November 2023.
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Mr. Olorunnimbe previously served on the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) Board, where he chaired the Stakeholder and Governance Committee and drove impactful youth employment and entrepreneurship programmes.
Other members of the board are:
1. Abraham Oshidami – Executive Commissioner, Technical Services
2. Rimini Makama – Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management
3. Hajia Maryam Bayi- Former Director, Human Capital & Administration
4. Col Abdulwahab Lawal (Rtd)
5. Senator Lekan Mustafa
6. Chris Okorie
7. Princess Oforitsenere Emiko
8. Secretary of the Board.
The President also approved the Board of the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF), with Dr Bosun Tijani, the Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, as Chairman.
Other members are :
1. Idris Olorunimbe – Vice Chairman
2. Abraham Oshidami
3. Rimini Makama
4. Aliyu Edogi Aliyu – (Rep FMCIDE)
5. Joseph B Faluyi – (Rep. of Federal Ministry of Finance)
6. Auwal Mohammed – (Rep. of FMBNP)
7. Uzoma Dozie
8. Peter Bankole
9. Abayomi Anthony Okanlawon
10. Gafar Oluwasegun Quadri and the
11. USPF Secretary
The Federal Government established the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) to facilitate the achievement of national policy goals for universal access and service to information and communication technologies (ICTs) in rural, unserved and underserved areas in Nigeria.
Anambra State ICT Agency has restated its commitment to creating a digitally inclusive environment where Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) can access and benefit from government services without barriers.
Speaking when the Anambra State Disability Rights Commission (ADRC), in partnership with the Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption (RoLAC) programme, paid an advocacy visit to his office, the Managing Director/CEO of the ICT Agency, Chukwuemeka Fred Agbata, underscored the Soludo administration’s determination to make governance work for all, including PWDs.
Mr. Agbata noted that intentional inclusion is a key part of the Governor’s technology-driven vision for the state which is why the commission recently received a wide range of digital tools to enhance their productivity.
“Technology is only truly impactful when it works for everyone, regardless of physical ability.
We are committed to removing digital barriers and making our platforms accessible to all residents of Anambra State,” he said.
CFA also disclosed that the Agency will take immediate steps to appoint a Disability Desk Officer, work with the commission to ensure that all government ICT platforms are designed to meet accessibility standards, and as well as incorporate PWD-friendly features into ongoing upgrades of the SolutionLens feedback platform.
The visit also featured presentations from ADRC’s Head of ICT, Mr. Bonaventure Umeokwonna, who outlined the Commission’s priorities, and RoLAC representatives, who pledged continued support for building capacity and strengthening the policy framework for inclusion.
Mr. Valentine Nwachukwu, Head of Planning, Research and Statistics at the Commission, gave the vote of thanks, commending the ICT Agency’s openness to collaboration.
The Anambra State ICT Agency continues to work closely with ministries, departments, and agencies to deepen digital transformation in the state, ensuring that no segment of society is left behind.
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