Economy
How to Keep Your Business Running After Working Hours
By Otori Emmanuel
Most offices operate their days from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, which only lasts during the daytime and because the cost of running a shift by servicing the office at night with an equal number of staff, if need be, might be cost-intensive, most organizations suffice to the normal routine of running an office by the daytime.
The concern is that our customers don’t sleep, when they want a solution, it can be urgent and important and the earlier they speak to someone, the more relief they get that their solution is on the way and that they can beat the deadline.
Knowing that most offices are closed after 5:00 pm and on weekends makes customers want to explore other options of reaching out to the service providers. With a business whose focus is centred on customer satisfaction and an amazing experience, there are options to keep your office running after working hours.
- Take advantage of social media pages
To run a business effectively, our online presence helps the most and involves our presence on social media channels by creating pages.
Facebook pages, for example, can be automated to reply to messages the moment a user sends an enquiry. It is made to generate a predetermined customized message. Facebook also lets the person know the possible time range within which to expect feedback and this is made possible based on the time it took the business to reply to a message, which provides a summary of the possible time of reply to the customer. This keeps the expectation of the customer that they would be replied and when the reply eventually comes, it proves the assertion that they are dealing with an organization that is customer-centric regardless of whether they are at work or not. In fact, the message can be crafted in such a way to contain a number that can be used for emergency contact.
Typically replies in a few minutes
————————————————————-
Hi, Thanks for messaging us.
We’ll get back to you soon first name, last name (of the sender)
- Auto-responder
An auto-responder is a system that organizations use to respond to a user that sends a message via email whether they are out of the office, on leave, on a special assignment or outside the country of operation, with a message informing the person of the possibility of when they are likely to read and reply their message or an option of reaching another individual in the organization that could help process their enquiry. The line below is an example of the use of an automated message using an auto-responder
Thank you for your message.
I will be out of the office until Monday, August 20, 2022.
If this is an emergency, please contact first name, last name on
xyz@xyz.com, otherwise, I will reply you on my return.
Thank you.
Yours Sincerely,
First name, last name
- A 24-hour office phone
I once read in an online forum where a customer needed a product for use first thing on a Monday morning and tried to establish contact with the supplier that they researched online, they found the office lines and called and it kept ringing without anyone picking at them the other end. They kept on researching and found another supplier who they called and got an immediate response and delivery of the raw materials to start the production at the agreed time. What is the point of having an office phone that lies in the office without anyone to engage callers? I think today’s definition of an office defies the limitation to place and gives us a meaning that refers to the person and processes which can be operated from any place and at whatever time of the day. I am of the opinion that every phone that an office use should be a mobile phone with a person that handles it and returns enquiries at any time of the day, even if it means the company would provide the handler with the opportunity of benefiting from the usage of the phone from the provision of airtime and data services, it is worth all the effort to keep the business running all day. Although the telephone etiquette still applies.
- Online Support Services
With the goal of maximizing the online platforms of an organization, all platforms must be considered. Websites should be integrated with an online support system that can be installed on a PC (Personal Computer) and on a mobile phone, which can be accessed with internet services at any time of the day.
These chat boxes are also automated to reply to messages and the user gets a notification when there is an enquiry to be answered.
- Integration of Chatbots
Chatbots function with the integration of artificial intelligence to answer questions based on the similarity, pattern or keywords consistently used by customers. This integration works as a temporary alternative to provide basic information before a human eventually connects with the customer when the chatbot has exhausted its ability with no respite to the demands of the customer. A full technologically integrated team is needed to execute this across platforms.
A sustainable business is built around the speed of attending to customers’ needs within a reasonable timeframe, the communication that helps to flatten the gap, concise information needed to make an offer and meeting with the expected date or time of delivery of the customer. When all these are in cohesion, a business can definitely become a household name.
By Adedapo Adesanya
A sub-group made up of eight members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) have brought forward a policy meeting by two days to May 3.
According to Argus, the meeting, initially scheduled to hold on Monday, May 5, will now hold on Saturday (tomorrow).
The eight countries — Saudi Arabia, Russia, the UAE, Kuwait, Iraq, Algeria, Oman and Kazakhstan — are meeting to decide on their crude production targets for June.
Sources say it was essentially for the convenience of a few oil ministers who would have struggled to make it on Monday.
In early April, the eight members decided to speed up plans to unwind a collective 2.2 million barrels per day of production cuts.
Saudi Arabia reportedly pushed for a larger-than-planned output hike from the eight members in May, a decision that helped send oil prices below $60 a barrel to a 4-year low.
The group is now expected to raise output by 411,000 barrels per day, three times the level agreed in December 2024.
Saudi Arabia, regarded as OPEC+ defacto leader and its biggest output cutting country, has been angered by Kazakhstan and Iraq producing above their OPEC+ targets.
The total 22-member group, which includes Nigeria, is currently cutting output by over 5 million barrels per day.
The group plans to hold a full ministerial meeting on May 28.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigerian billionaire entrepreneur, Mr Aliko Dangote, says he expects revenues from Dangote Group to grow more than $30 billion next year from about $25 billion projected in 2025 amid current trade uncertainties.
He made this disclosure on Thursday at an investment conference in Lagos, acknowledging the positive impact President Donald Trump’s tariffs would have on his urea exports to the US because major competitor Algeria had been slapped with a higher levy.
President Trump imposed a 14 per cent tariff on imports from Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil exporter, as part of widespread trade measures introduced last month, later paused for 90 days.
Comparatively, Algeria was subjected to a 30 per cent reciprocal tariff on its exports to the United States under President Trump’s Liberation Day tariff policy announced on April 2, 2025.
“But when I checked who we are really competing with, we are competing with Algeria. So, luckily for us Algeria were slapped with 30 per cent,” said Mr Dangote, adding that, “It actually makes us a bit comfortable.”
The tariff measure was part of a broader strategy to address perceived unfair trade practices by imposing higher tariffs on countries without formal trade agreements with the US.
President Trump’s tariffs spared oil and gas exports, allowing the Dangote Petroleum Refinery to continue selling its products to the US without disruption. This exemption provides a significant cushion for Mr Dangote’s broader business strategy, especially as the refinery ramps up output.
Mr Dangote also said that Dangote Fertiliser, which began commercial operations in 2022, shipped 37 per cent of its 3 million metric tonnes of urea production to the US.
Beyond the US, Dangote also exports urea to other key markets such as Brazil, which has historically relied on Russian fertilizer supplies, as well as India and Mexico.
Mr Dangote added that he expects his cement company to become Africa’s largest exporter next year, overtaking Egypt in the process.
“We are at about 53 million tons,” Mr Dangote said in reference to the production capacity of his plants. “By next year, we will be at 62 million tons of cement. We will be number one.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has revealed that 368,911 workers have changed their Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) and transferred their Retirement Savings Accounts worth N1.77 trillion to new PFAs under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) as of the end of March 2025.
The pension industry regulator disclosed this in its Quarterly Summary of Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) transferred by Pension Fund Administrators.
The transfer window allows a contributor under the CPS to move all his RSAs from his current PFA to another of his choice once in a year.
According to the figures, 27,701 workers transferred N191.1 billion in first quarter of 2025, 28,439 workers transferred N172.29 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024 while 23,226 workers transferred N141.87 billion in the third quarter of 2024; 20,993 workers transferred N128.87 billion in the second quarter.
Figures showed that 23,484 and 22,927 workers transferred N120.866 billion and N105.763 billion in the first quarter of 2024 and fourth quarter of 2023 respectively.
In the third quarter of 2023, 19,014 RSA holders changed their PFAs and moved N85.99 billion; 34,359 workers moved N158.6 billion in the second quarter of 2023; 24,963 moved N111.67 billion in the first quarter of 2023.
The figures disclosed that 2,799 contributors moved N18.9 billion in the fourth quarter of 2020; 12,681 contributors moved N47.78 billion in the first quarter of 2021; 10,166 moved N35.89 billion in the second quarter of 2021; 12,872 contributors moved N45.56 billion in the third quarter of 2021; while 12,874 contributors moved N42.49 billion in the fourth quarter of 2021.
It added that 12,336 contributors moved N36.36 billion in the first quarter of 2022; 14,821 moved N50.22 billion in the second quarter of 2022; 30,973 moved N143.1 billion in the third quarter of 2022; while 34,283 moved N131.76 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022.
In the fourth quarter of 2020, PenCom introduced the transfer window regulation which allowed workers to change their PFAs.
Section 13 of the Pension Reform Act 2014 specifies that a Retirement Savings Account holder may transfer his RSA from one PFA to another.
It added that such transfer should not be more than once a year.
The pension industry regulator stated that PFAs must only process requests for RSA holders registered on the Enhanced Contributor Registration System (ECRS) and those whose recaptured information had been successfully uploaded onto the system.
“PFAs shall only process RSA transfer requests for eligible RSA holders who have not transferred their RSAs within the last 365 days using the RTS, irrespective of whether it is a leap year or not,” it stated.
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