Leading telecommunication giant, MTN Nigeria, Akwa Ibom State-owned airline, Ibom Air and e-commerce service provider, Slot, are among the companies that customers rated best in providing services in 2024.
The revelations were made recently at the unveiling of the 2024 Nigeria Customer Service Index (NCSI) Report by the NCSI Group.
While MTN came tops at the GSM sub sector of the telecoms sector, Fibre One led in the ISP sub sector. For the transportation sector, Ibom Air led in the aviation sub sector, with Uber coming tops in the intercity sub sector.
Other top performing companies by sectors and sub sectors include Lekki Homes & Gardens, (Real Estate), Opay (Fintech), Wema Bank (Banking), Eko Hotels (Hospitality) Ikeja Electric - IKEDC (Power) NEM Insurance – General (Insurance) and Metro Health (HMO).
Reliance Family Hospital – Private- and Uni-Abuja Teaching Hospital – Public - out-performed others in the Healthcare sector while in the Education sector, Obafemi Awolowo University and Covenant University led in the public and private sub sectors. For Eateries, it was Mega Chicken while Sports Gaming had BetWay.
The report revealed that Nigeria’s overall Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) Index improved to 67% D) in 2024, up from 61% in 2023, indicating marginal growth. Sectoral performance results showed varying trends, with some sectors making significant progress, while others declined or remained stagnant.
The Transportation sector emerged as the top-performing industry with a 73% rating, surpassing the Hospitality sector (72%), which dropped from its 2023 first-place ranking while the E-Commerce sector (60%), Power sector (61%), and Real Estate sector (62%) ranked lowest. However, the Public sector showed notable improvement, rising from 47% in 2023 to 63% in 2024.
The NCSI 2024 survey was conducted online via www.nigeriacsi.org, receiving over 16,000 submissions (a 104% increase from 7,788 in 2023). The survey ran from May 1 to December 31, 2024 and included responses from Lagos, Abuja, Oyo, Kaduna, Rivers, and Enugu, covering diverse age, education, and income brackets. Over 1,000 organizations and companies participated in this survey, and more than 50 valid ratings were received, a prerequisite for being rated and listed on the NCSi.
The 2024 report is the second edition of the annual assessment of service delivery, customer experience, and performance across various business and social service sectors in the country.
In her remarks, patron WAACSP, and founder, Consumer Advocacy Foundation of Nigeria, Mrs Sola Salako-Ajulo, said she was encouraged because when she started to wish for better customer service in Nigeria, there were no structures like this, and today, there are structures that are giving data and backing to the way consumers see it. “So it’s a very encouraging report. Last year we were here, we saw how dismay was. This year we have moved up a bit, which shows that there are efforts in that sector.
“We need to keep improving. Nigeria is not where it should be, and our customer service culture still needs to improve. We’re hoping that with the NCSI report coming out annually, giving feedback to service providers on how the consumers in Nigeria feel about how they are being treated. It would encourage everybody in every sector to improve their quality of service, and it would also make Nigeria better and easier for all of us because if we are treated better, we will spend more money, and when we spend more money, our economy will improve.
“But if people treat you like you are not important, the money you are spending is harder, so you would consider whether you want to spend it or not. But if you are treated well, like in other countries where we go to and everybody says, oh, customer service is fantastic there. That’s why people spend money. That’s why there is a customer index. And the customer index is very high because people can walk in there and buy anything,” she stressed.
Salako-Ajulo further said that, after all, they know they will be taken care of, and will be treated like they want to see.
“That has also become the culture in every sector of Nigeria. So this report is like a mirror, showing all the service providers, this is how the people you serve are looking at you. This is what they see so that they can take a step to improve.”
The keynote speaker, Fellow WAACSP, Mr. Tunji Adeleye, emphasized that what cannot be measured, cannot be improved.
“The first step towards improving the perception of customer service in Nigeria is for you to have a standard measurement that can show us exactly what people say, or what people are saying or see about our services. A lot of times, the mistake we organizations make is to look at customer service from our points of view.
“But we have to realize that it is the customer that makes us who we are as a business people. So finally, we have a report that can show Nigerians, that they deserve better. Two, that they have a voice, that they can speak and they can complain, and they can relate to service providers, and three, they can hold service providers responsible or accountable for the service they are paying for,” he added.
In his speech, Chris Anozie’s team lead NCSI group said most of the services rated were not free services, not as if they are being given for free. “A lot of service providers must realize that they need to own up, or they need to act and give the customer the service that they have paid for, the services that we deserve, and the services that are applicable in other global organizations.
“Then the last thing is the fact that we need to start to rate ourselves with global companies. A lot of times, we always feel that Nigerian companies are better. What we saw even in the ISP space, where our local provider was rated better by Nigerians than even a foreign provider, and that’s where that’s the power of information, that’s the power of measurement,” he explained.
