Social Media operators across Africa converged on Lagos last weekend for the annual Social Media Awards Africa (SMAA), an initiative sponsored by Sterling Bank Plc. The Executive Director, Finance & Strategy of the Bank, Mr. Abubakar Suleiman and other stakeholders speak on why banks should invest in the social media space and other developments in the thriving subsector, writes COLLINS NWEZE.
The social media have and will continue to transform into what was never anticipated. Most operators of social networks are surprised with the diverse and astounding ways users have been able to engage and utilise their platforms.
In Nigeria, the internet is highlighting the transformative nature and capacity of these networks to ensure that desired result is achieved.
Sterling Bank is one of the lenders that has utilised the beauty of invention within social media- capacity and infinite opportunities therein to serve its customers better.
The Executive Director, Finance & Strategy, Mr. Abubakar Suleiman, admitted that many organisations are playing big in the social media space and the competition on the various platforms is being intensified and that the bank cannot be left behind.
The bank executive director, who spoke following the Bank’s successful sponsorship of the annual Social Media Awards Africa in Lagos, said Facebook and Twitter alone reportedly serve an estimated 1.5 billion users globally.
For him, that is more than enough attraction. “The followership is huge and cannot be ignored by any forward looking organisation. Then you have other platforms that are patronised by millions of people worldwide on a daily basis including Nigeria, where it has assumed a new dimension. For us at Sterling Bank, it is a response to the needs of our customers, who are fully engaged in the social media space and in line with our objective of being a customer-friendly financial institution,” he said.
Speaking on the bank’s product development on social media, Suleiman said the bank took the use of the social media platform to another level last year when it introduced the social lender (Quick Cash Scheme).
The scheme, he said, is designed to provide quick cash to members of the on-line community.
“My submission is that social media allows your business to extend well beyond the immediate geographic area. With social media you can cut cross country, state, and even national barriers. Besides, if you look at our population, you will see that the youth constitutes a reasonable percentage. To reach out to them, you must use a platform where they access information, where they spend most of their time on a daily basis and it is definitely in the social media space,” he insisted.
Suleiman said Sterling Bank identifies with Generation Y, (also known as the millennials), and will sustain its position as an organisation that understands the needs of its customers.
The lender also leverages relevant platforms to proffer innovative solutions, which in turn enriches the lives of its customers. It will equally continue to focus on providing timely and convenient solutions to support its online customers through the social media platforms.
Why support the initiative
Suleiman said for the bank, it is not about what it wanted to gain from supporting the awards.
“It’s all about recognising excellence and rewarding same. The Social Media Awards Africa is a premier continental initiative designed to recognise and celebrate excellence, creativity and enterprise in the use of social media by individuals and organisations across Africa. Sterling Bank is happy to associate with this because it is committed to advancing human and social development across Africa with a focus on the growing relevance of social media around the world and Africa in particular.
“Apart from providing a platform for the bank to further consolidate its position as a leading light in the Social Media space, the lender has taken this project as a Corporate Social Responsibility initiative,” he said.
The bank, he said, is always delighted to be associated with initiatives that will impact the lives of our people not only in Nigeria, but globally.
This, he added, has seen the lender going into partnerships with institutions, especially in the areas of the environment, entertainment and education.
The bank is in partnership with the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) and provided kits for its over 30,000 highway managers. It has also done same for some other states in the country.
How the winners emerged
The process leading to the emergence of the winners, he said, was handled by an independent organisation different from Sterling Bank. He praised the organisation’s professionalism in conducting the entire process.
“We have absolute confidence in them. From the members of the Advisory Board to the Jury, you would see that people with rich background in Social Media were involved.I was particularly fascinated by the voting pattern and the level of transparency in the process. It must have generated a lot of palpitation for the contestants, who eventually emerged tops,” he said.
The event, he explained, brought together social media influencers, experts, enthusiasts and policy makers to explore and forge new developmental paths for Africa.
“The SMAA seeks to recognise and reward creativity and excellence among users of social media across Africa. The voting phase, which was part of the process led to the emergence of 43 finalists for the four categories. A total of 923 nominations were received during the nomination period as follows: Personality Based got 468 nominations; Platform Specific got 266 nominations; Institutional received 115 nominations while indigenous got 74 nominations.
“Also, during the window period, over 5.5 million connections, at least 821,886 retweets and 29 million accounts were reached through all 22 social media platforms where the messages were promoted. The 15 winners of the award have received the sum of $15,000 as prize money from the bank. The prize money was handed over to the winners at the SMAA presentations with each of the winners going home with $1,000 each,” he said.
Feedback from social media fol lowers
Suleiman said the bank is excited about the interest the award is generating barely few days after the awards.
“I must say that already, the award is generating interest among institutions across the continent as a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), African Media Initiative based in Kenya has indicated interest and confirmed training for all the finalists. The Chief Executive of the organisation, Mr. Eric Chije, who was at the event, also commended the Bank for appreciating excellence and contributing to the continued growth of social media both in Nigeria and on the African continent,” he said.
Suleiman insisted that the level of interest and participation has been very heart-warming, adding that the bank would continue to provide the required support to aid the achievement of the objectives of subsequent awards, which would be bigger and better.
“Since its launch last year September, the Award has expanded both within and outside Africa. It has also trended globally and become the second most talked about subject on Twitter in Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Kenya, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US),” he said.
Member, Advisory Board, Social Media Africa Awards, Ini Onuk said with four major categories and 15 awards, the SMAA is a genuine, timely intervention for promoting distinctive creativity, peerless innovation and pervasive developments on the African continent through the best use of social media platforms and the rest of the social web.
“Social media has reconfigured the way in which all businesses and public entities now communicate. Open-sourced and inherently radical, it has created a space adverse to the tight image controls that brands once successfully exercised,” she said.
She said before now, it was almost impossible to reach certain brands, persons and products, but with social media, marginalised dissenters can now make mince meat of the mightiest multinational brands, thanks to an explosion of public platforms that have created unlimited venues for sharing facts, spreading rumours and propagating aggressive calls to action.
Social Media Influencer, Rich Simmonds, said social media platforms, e-commerce providers, and mobile money services, technology payment firms have brought new twists to how banking is done. He said Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, are helping banks reach out to the youth population.
He said the SMAA was designed to recognise and celebrate excellence, creativity and enterprise in the use of social media – through its tools and platforms – by individuals and organisations across Africa. He commended Sterling Bank for making this year’s event a success.
Simmonds said the event was an opportunity for participants to showcase the very best in Social Media on the African continent and reward individuals and institutions that have added value to the continent through the unique use of the platform.
He said stakeholders should not overlook the importance of social media in today’s society and the increasing role it plays in the lives of people on a daily basis.
Besides, Nigeria has over 63 million internet data subscribers; 11 million Facebook users and fourth fastest growing number of users worldwide. On Twitter, the country has 1.6 million profiles while 1.03 million business profiles and an unconfirmed number of professionals are hooked to LinkedIn.
Analysts insist that with 25 banks and a network of 5,500 branches nationwide; 25 million banking customers against 127 million active mobile connections and 25 million users of smartphone, there is no doubt that a fertile market for digital play exists.
