Access Bank chief advises companies on how stay afloat

The Group Managing Director of Access Bank Plc, Roosevelt Ogbonna, has enjoined corporate entities to embrace technology to stay afloat in the increasingly competitive market place.

The GMD said this in a keynote address he delivered at the unveiling of an app: Cydene Express, in Lagos on Wednesday.

Ogbonna said that corporate entities failing to keep pace with technology and innovations would go into extinction sooner than later.

Ogbonna said that technology had caused disruptions in markets across the globe, a development he noted had resulted to untimely deaths for many corporate entities.

He said: “Globally, disruptions have become the order of the day and technology is at the heart of that disruption.

“Therefore, any entity that fails to shape up will naturally ship out.”

He lauded Skalid Obi, the software developer, who built the Cydene Express app, for inventing a software that would help thousands of Nigerian homes to ensure efficient use of household utilities.

He said: “Mr. Obi and his team at Cydene Energy Services have thrown up a challenge to other Nigerian youths to bring change through the creation of innovative technologies and ideas.”

The Access Bank chief described the new app as a value-added platform that would give easy access to utilities and services in Nigeria.

Also speaking, the Executive Vice-Chairman of Techno Oil Limited, Nkechi Obi, praised the software developer for his tenacity and commitment to bridging the gap in delivering utility services to households.

Obi, however, told the Federal Government and corporate entities to find ways to encourage young Nigerians to embrace innovations and technologies that would contribute to nation growth.

Earlier, Skalid, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of Cydene Energy Services, said the company developed Cydene Express to boost the adoption of Liquefied Petroleum Gas among Nigerian households.

He said that the company was prompted to develop the app to bridge the gap in accessing and paying for household utilities from the comfort of homes.

He said: “At Cydene Energy, we have built a socially inclusive app that can accommodate Nigerians.

“With this app, Nigerians can now securely purchase utilities while maintaining comfort and maximising productivity.

“We realised the need to own the management system in order to understand the logistics of delivering services from merchants to consumers.”

He said that with the introduction of the app, the Federal Government’s effort to boost LPG adoption as cooking fuel via the National LPG Expansion Plan would receive a boost.

A Director of Cydene Energy Services, Sam Ochonma, said the app was also handy in making payments for other utilities such as airtime, cable television and electricity bills.

Ochonma explained that users could send money to friends and families to pay for utilities, using the app.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that up to 10,000 Nigerian households have embraced the app for efficient use of household utilities.