Abijan, Ivory Coast
LPR: Good evening sir and welcome to Liberia Public Radio.
Ernest Jerry Ochonogor: Thank you very much.
LPR: Please can you introduce yourself as we begin this first to face interview with you.
Ernest Jerry Ochonogor: I am Mr. Ernest Jerry Ochonogor, a Nigerian and I work as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for Leadway Vie insurance company in Cote d’Ivoire.
LPR: What are some of the challenges that you were faced with as an English speaking person working in a French speaking country?
Ernest Jerry Ochonogor: The first challenge that I have when I came to Cote d’Ivoire is that I observed that this is cash driven society country, but where I come from is a digital driven country that could be one of the challenges, language barrier as well, because I am an English speaking person and Cote d’Ivoire is a French speaking country, but as a business person you have to learn, so I am learning the French language, because our meetings are in French and even our reports we do them in French as well.
If you want to do business in somewhere or in any country you have to study the language, the culture of the people and assume zero knowledge these are things that you have to do before bringing or introducing your knowledge and experience.
Looking at the financial services that were greatly affected by Covid 19 and our company is not an exception, but as digital driven company, because we are talking about digitalization so I think that things are going well before Covid 19.
LPR Let us look at the revenue generation since covid 19
Ernest Jerry Ochonogor: Regarding revenue generation, I can say to you that the revenue has dropped, because as an insurance company there are services that we offer and it has to do with physical interaction, but since the outbreak of Covid 19 in 2020 up today as we speak, that means that we cannot no longer meet these customers so this aspect has a negative impact on our company.
As a result of Covid 19 for us as a digital driven company since we cannot meet with some of these customers anymore for services that have to do with face to face interaction, we have created platforms to keep our business moving”.
LPR: Sir did your company downsize some employees of your company as the result of Covid 19?
“For my company we did not downsize our employees although some companies did so, because we all know that businesses have not been able to generate more money, because Covid 19 but we did not drop people from their job and even interesting they get their salaries on time.
Ernest Jerry Ochonogor: By the way, Covid 19 has made other businesses and individuals to become billionaires today and on the contrary other businesses have closed down, for example a business organization that is involved in the sales of face masks, delivery of goods to customers that is another great opportunity to make profit.
LPR: Are there any positive part regarding Covid 19 as it relates to finance?
Ernest Jerry Ochonogor: Covid 19 has brought about cost saving, I tell if a company has to sponsor a trip for a member of the business organization you know what it entails, but because of this global virus we are no more traveling like before, so that money can be kept for the benefit of the company”.
If you want to success in the current business world, then you have to do away with traditional business method, if you want do business during Covid 19 and after Covid 19, then you need to think outside of the box, what can you do differently? How can you do it differently? These are things that you need to be thinking about”.
LPR: What are strategies that you have as to keep the business going?
Ernest Jerry Ochonogor: You need to know your target, people are using their phones on social media such as Facebook, and Instagram you can reach them there, because you cannot reach them physically so you can get through digital”.
LPR: Can you tell us the percentage that the company revenue dropped to when Covid 19 began in 2020?
Ernest Jerry Ochonogor: In 2020 when the Covid 19 virus broke out I can say to you that our revenue dropped to at least 20%, even though the revenue has dropped, but again there are other things that you can do like investment to generate revenue for the company.
Another major thing to do if want to be a successful person or organization is to add value then you will continue to make money, innovation as well, because we are not just selling our services to customers, therefore it is very important know what they need example; I am selling an insurance that will cover Covid 19 cases to our clients.
LPR: Sir any final word to our audience as we end this first interview with you?
Ernest Jerry Ochonogor: In conclusion, there are two major things that any business institution or person should take into consideration, customer value and shareholder value, because companies that making it today are companies that are focusing on these two things, a customer centric company holds its customer first which automatically translates into shareholder which will lead to money making.
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