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The
best 10-minute news from across Anglophone & francophone Africa on Radio
XYZ93.1FM in Accra, Ghana. We offer mini-features under "Focus".
Original content guaranteed weekly! Weekly review assured on Fridays. Look for
#xyzAfrica on soundcloud.com
1.
THE WEEK IN “FOCUS”:
* “Frontline Staff cannot deliver what they do not know” – National Customer Service
Advocate
* Uganda’s Solar-Powered
Bus Attracts South African Investment
EAST
AFRICA:
· Tanzania’s Magafuli Rwanda Trip Sets
Stage for New Order in East Africa
WEST
AFRICA: ECOWAS
Introduces Regional Cattle-Rearing Policy
FOCUS:
| FOCUS Uganda’s Kiira Solar-powered bus |
We started off
offering listeners an insight into the
dynamics inherent in world-class customer service.
National Customer Service Advocate
Dr. Benonia Aryee believes delivering what world-class corporates believe
to be an “insanely customer-centric culture” in Ghana may sound “fluffy and
far-fetched”, but it should be possible.
Speaking EXCLUSIVELY to E.K.Bensah Jr on the “Africa in Focus Show”, which
commenced a series of discussions on delivering world-class customer service in
Africa, in Season 4, she defined customer service as essentially “serving the
customer” or “taking care of the needs of the customer” that is supposed to be
professional and of high quality.
That said, she believes the idea of
serving eludes Ghanaians as a culture. For example, there is a culture
characterised by one where younger generation is always serving the older ones.
For her, “public service is very public, but no service.” She avers one answer
to customer service can probably be found in the homes, or at church, where it
translates into serving people.
Dr. Aryee, founder of Omansi – a
business and training consultancy that seeks to improve customer care service
delivery within the Ghanaian service industry – believes that, the fact that a
customer service provider has been able to serve a client and explained how far
they can deliver that service will normally put the customer “in a very happy
place”, because the customer will believe that “you care for me, and you are mindful
of my needs. You are there to assist me.”
In Dr. Aryee’s view, “once you have
that, then you start looking at the processes involved in being able to deliver
this service or the needs of the customer.” This might involve a number of
processes, and one might find that one or two processes overshadow each other
-- possibly there is no synergy – but one can seek to improve it as one goes
along.
For his part, Management &
Development Consultant Edem Senanu believes, the core of customer care is about
satisfaction. In his view, some skills cannot be learnt from the home (eye
contact; smiling etiquette). Once people learn how these soft skills can
positively-impact businesses, they begin taking customer service a bit more
seriously. For him, it is not the fact that there is either a manual, Charter
or framework on customer care that people will have it delivered – for which
reason institutions, such as the UNDP, come in to encourage us to go a step
further.
Senanu believes customer service
should be common-sense for Ghanaians: [cue
AUDIO 1- Senanu]
For Dr. Aryee, customer care should
involve communication and processes: [cue
AUDIO 2 – Dr. Aryee]
That was Dr. Aryee speaking
exclusively to my producer for the “Africa in Focus” Show.
On Thursday, we updated listeners...about…
Uganda’s
automobile innovation of a solar-powered bus – named Kayoola – that is
attracting investment interest from South Africa.
According
to Kiira Motors’ head, Isaac Musasizi, the vision over the next fifteen years
is to manufacture all parts and assemble the vehicle in Uganda. With mass
production initiated, plans are in place to sell each of the bus at USD58, 000
(Shillings200 million).
Kiira
Motors’ prototype electric bus uses 10 solar panels that are mounted on its
roof with two rechargeable batteries that increases on the Bus’ 80KM range.
Dipuo
Peters, South Africa’s Minister for Public Transport, now says South Africa is
keenly-verifying Uganda’s solar-powered bus, with a view to establishing a
partnership for future production.
Addressing
the press earlier this week, this is what she had to say: [cue: AUDIO]
EAST AFRICA:
The
East African magazine reports how the
arrival of Tanzanian President Magafuli in Rwanda this week for a two-day
official visit “marked a special moment for East Africa.”
First,
it demonstrated the thawing of relations between Dar es Salaam and Kigali after
years of altercations following fallout between Dr. Magafuli’s predecessor
Kikwete and Rwanda’s Paul Kagame over claims that Tanzania favoured the
Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).
In
Rwanda’s view, the FDLR played an active role in the 1994 genocide on its soil
that claimed the lives of more than a million people.
Even
more significant for East Africa is the way in which it is a start of deep
resolve to restore Tanzania’s influence in the region – and dispel this “lone-ranger”
tag among other East African Community partners on key integration issues, such
as trade and infrastructure development.
To
this end, both Presidents Magafuli and Kagame on Wednesday jointly opened the
Rusomo one-stop-border post to improve trade between the two countries. The
fallout between Tanzania and Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda was fuelled by the formation
of a “coalition of the willing” by the three states to push for faster
integration.
WEST
AFRICA:
ECOWAS
Says it is formulating a regional policy that will address the activities of
cattle rearers in member countries.
While
ECOWAS does not consider herdsmen as terrorists, it maintains it would not relent
in allowing cattle-rearers hide under the guise of economic activity to
perpetrate acts of terrorism.
The
Programme Officer in charge of regional security, Isaac Armstrong, made this
known in Abuja on Wednesday. He was speaking at a workshop organized by the
body with the theme: “ECOWAS Counter-terrorism”.
Armstrong
maintains castle rustling as a burning issue in parts of Western Africa,
listing Nigeria and Gambia as countries with high prevalence of cattle
rustling, adding that the situation constitutes a serious threat to peace and
stability in the region.
ENDs
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