Africa Prudential Plc has charged the cooperative movements in Nigeria on digital adaptation in their business, culture and structure to properly position them in the new digital economy, and unlock the potential of the sector in sustainable economic development in Africa.
The call was made by Obong Idiong, Managing Director/CEO, Africa Prudential Plc, while speaking as at the 5th Cooperative Summit and 2019 International Cooperative Day, held by the Cooperative Federation of Nigeria (CFN) at Jos, Plateau State last week.
While delivering his paper on Cooperatives and the Digital Workspace, Obong noted that digital technology was changing the lives of consumers.
“Social media provides them with a new voice. Mobile devices and online platforms alter what people expect from businesses, and ‘big data’ is giving organisations the opportunity to understand and fully engage with their stakeholders – whether these are members or customers,” he said.
He emphasised that the ‘middle-man’ in today’s businesses, including cooperative societies, is technology.
Khadijat Abdulkadir, Chief Technology Officer, also speaking at the summit, explained that Africa Prudential Plc had added SDG9 to the mix this year as the company provides innovative value by automating the cooperative sector, and providing access to EasyCoop—an Enterprise Resource Planning solution, which takes care of end-to-end automation and administration of cooperative societies—as a way to drive value for the cooperative sector.
Taking its advocacy role further, Opeyemi Onifade, Head, Cooperative Society Business, confirmed that Africa Prudential Plc would be at the Global Conference ‘Cooperatives for Development’ and General Assembly of the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA), which is slated to hold in Kigali, Rwanda, from October 14 to 17, 2019.
It would be recalled that since Africa Prudential’s venture into the cooperative space in 2014, the company has been championing full automation of cooperatives in Africa with the introduction of EasyCoop.
In 2016, Africa Prudential Plc signed an MOU with the Cooperative Federation of Nigeria (CFN), the apex body for cooperative in Nigeria
