Nigeria has been assigned grade D (61.82 per cent) on the customer service index, with Ghana and other African countries coming higher on the index.
The ranking was contained in the 2023 Report on the Nigerian Customer Service Index (NCSI) unveiled in Lagos last week.
The index, which assessed various sectors, in terms of customer satisfaction across industries, has the hospitality sector emerging as the leader, boasting the highest score of 73 per cent. Insurance and e-commerce scored 69 and 68 per cent respectively.
Presenting the report, Board Chair and founder of the West Africa Association of Customer Service Professionals (WAACSP), Yvonne MacCarthy, noted that customer service is a critical aspect of any business and as such directly impacts the overall success of any organisation.
She said the inaugural report, which marked a significant milestone and improved the landscape of customer service across sectors in the economy, was to encourage organisations to enhance their service delivery and continuously improve along the customer service value chain.
A member of the Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal, ‘Sola Ajulo, lamented that customer service, despite being critical to the economy, has not been given much attention on a national scale.
According to her, little effort has been made to understand or track its growth or decline.
Ajulo, also a patron and a fellow of WAACSP, said the NCSI unveiling marked a significant milestone in the association’s commitment to understanding and improving customer experiences across all sectors.
She said the index, despite all expected limitations, being the first effort, reflects the true state of customer service.
“As the giant of Africa, we must aspire to do better than this. If we are scoring a D it is below par for a country as big and an economy as big as this, we should be reflecting and appreciating the trade and commerce that we do here so that people can be interested in doing business with us,” she said.
A representative and Head of the Lagos Office of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), Susie Onwuka, expressed the commission’s readiness to partner with the association to enhance the protection of consumers.
