Awabah, a digital pension aggregator in Nigeria recently launched her Virtual Buddy, Lolo. Two launch ceremonies were held in Port-Harcourt and Abuja on the 26th and 27th of July 2022, to commemorate this. Representatives from partner Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs), Pension Operators of Nigeria, and other key industry players were present at both events.
In attendance was also the Brand Ambassador, Omotunde Adebowale-David, popularly known as Lolo, whom the chatbot is modeled after. She stated that Awabah is raising awareness and letting people know that micro pensions are desperately needed by Nigerians. Also “ Thechat-bot is easy to interact with so you don’t need to worry so much, even if the person is uneducated, a little help from their children will help them navigate the system” she added.
The Virtual Buddy, Lolo which is available on WhatsApp was developed to increase micro pension access among informal sector workers and, as a result, narrow the pension gap in Africa as a whole.
Seun Adekanbi, Product Manager, Awabah, remarked that with the introduction of the Virtual Buddy, Lolo, onboarding new users into the micro pension scheme and responding to questions from old, new, and potential users has become more seamless, as all you need to do is say hi to Lolo on 07000292224 on Whatsapp.
The Virtual Buddy also helps with other micro-financial services including enrolling in a low-cost health insurance plan and making contributions to and withdrawals from retirement savings accounts.
“We are absolutely delighted to power chat automation for NGCBEO Nigeria Limited (Awabah) both for their website and WhatsApp conversations. Awabah is a pioneer in providing a financially safe and secure future to millions of Nigerians using world-class technology. We just are proud to partner with them in delivering delightful support experiences to their customers along the customer lifecycle using our Conversational AI platform and help them achieve their mission”, says Gaurav Singh, Founder, and CEO at Verloop.io!( Developer, Awabah Virtual Buddy).
About Awabah
Awabah is building a system to ensure pension inclusion in the informal sector, addressing some of the supply side challenges imminent with the micro pension and the broader pension industry.
The solution involves automating micro pension and target savings for self-employed Nigerians and informal sector workers.
Awabah uses a web platform (for the digitally included), its recently launched virtual buddy Lolo and a network of local banking agents for payment collection and interactions with the contributors.
Also, Awabah’s strategy addresses the peculiarities of the Nigerian informal sector, taking note of the critical success factors: embracing technology, utilizing agents as access points and building partnerships with the key stakeholders.
