Termii, a leading communication technology company in Africa, successfully held its third annual Termii Elevate Conference, themed "Communication Technology: Connecting Communities and Creating Opportunities." The event brought together industry leaders and innovators to discuss how communication technology can drive business growth and community development.
Some of the speakers present at the event were Babajide Duroshola, General Manager of M-KOPA; Toyin Adepegba, Head of Marketing and Communications at Renda Africa; Uwem Ekanem, Vice President of Marketing at Bankly; Lede Adeniyi, CTO of Bento; Joshua Chibueze, Cofounder and CMO of Piggvest; and Olajuwon Abayomi, General Manager of Termii, among others.
Delivering the first keynote address at the event was Uwem Ekanem, who discussed how businesses can drive growth through valuable communication. He identified a common mismatch between communication efforts and business expectations, explaining that this often arises when business leaders struggle to align the communications team's activities with the overall business goals.
Ekanem emphasised the importance of creating a north star goal, an overarching objective that the entire business aims to achieve within a given period. This allows every department, including the communications team, to align their efforts towards achieving awareness, customer acquisition, and retention in support of the broader business objective.
He also highlighted the need for tracking and reporting the impact of communication efforts. "Doing the work is 50 percent of the work, and talking about it is the other 50 percent," Ekanem said.
Joshua Chibueze spoke on communication as a catalyst for community building in the second keynote address. He stressed the necessity of having a basis for communication, such as a product or project.
Chibueze shared insights from Piggyvest's eight-year journey, highlighting strategies that have worked for them, including clarity of purpose, active listening, inclusive language, consistent messaging across all channels, conflict resolution, accountability, transparency, celebrating successes, and communicating failures. Continuous improvement and communication of their results have also been crucial in maintaining customer loyalty.
A major highlight of the event was the startup pitch challenge. Early-stage founders presented their solutions to high-profile judges from Endeavor, Aidi, and Ventures Platform Fund, showcasing how they leverage technology to solve real-world problems.
Four startups stood out with their innovative approaches and potential for significant impact. Supplya, a digital marketplace connecting retailers and drop-shippers to verified consumer goods suppliers, emerged as the grand prize winner, taking home ₦750,000.
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CashAfrica, a fintech company providing contactless payment infrastructure, secured the first runner-up position with a prize of ₦500,000. Ridefraser, a logistics startup supporting SMEs and e-commerce businesses, and SUWK Nigeria, a startup providing vocational skills to young Nigerians, shared the second runner-up position, each receiving ₦250,000.
Joy Adeniran, co-founder of Supplya, expressed gratitude for the experience and the support received. "The prize money will contribute to our business operations, which are capital-intensive, and if there's a percentage left, it's going to be used for marketing," Adeniran said.
Speaking to Techpoint Africa on the success of the Termii Elevate Conference, their achievement of processing over 1 billion transactions, and their plans for the future, Emmanuel Gbolade, Co-founder and CEO of Termii, said they are glad to be able to bring individuals and businesses together and showcase what’s possible with communication in achieving growth.
Touching on their future offerings as a brand, Gbolade said, "We are licensed now for more services from the telcos. Moving forward, we plan to offer our services in more markets and expand our product offerings. Right now, we are mostly focused on messaging, but we want to expand to all channels, including voice calls, data, and USSD."
Gbolade also emphasised the importance of scaling up by diversifying their service offerings, noting, "If you can do a billion in messaging, you could also do a billion in voice and data plans."
Termii Elevate 2024 showcased the company's commitment to fostering innovation, supporting startups, and spotlighting the place of effective communication for businesses. With plans for expansion and increased product offerings, Termii is set to continue its trajectory as a leading communication technology company, creating opportunities and driving growth for businesses across the continent.
