In Lagos, there is a common denominator that affects everyone and that is the ‘traffic congestion experience’ which leads to delays in appointments and so many other issues. While this has continued to be a bane to living in the mega city, Tumi Adeyemi, founder and CEO of Zenolynk Technology Ltd believes his company has a great shot at resolving some of those problems and challenges around moving about in Lagos.
During the Business Half Hour programme by Nairamentrics, he described Zenolynk as an innovative mobility service provider that is looking to make the journey experience around mass mobility and public transportation a lot more attractive than what it is today.
In addition to providing solutions for mass mobility, he said the company also subjects traditional businesses to digital strategy in order to optimise a return on value for all stakeholders by creating products for the businesses.
Over time, Zenlynk has provided services for big enterprises including the Lagos Government. Adeyemi explained that it was able to design and build the Lagos State Volunteers Corp platform as a way to drive citizen engagement and participation in a more meaningful way.
He said, “The state decided to set up a platform that allows people who are below the curve to participate in governance by volunteering their time. That project is still going on today and we have about 20,000 volunteers who have done a lot of active work. They were extremely useful during the Covid-19 response emergency program. Also, a lot of the tree planting engagement and environmental cleanup going on in the state are being done by these people. This gives the opportunity for people who want to give back to the community actually to do so in a meaningful manner.”
He also revealed that the company is currently working with the ministry of economic planning and budget to set up a portal that would automate the public monetary evaluation process for the state and at the same time, socialise it with the people so that in one stop or from one source, everyone can have access to information on the performance of project being carried out in the state.
He said, “Oftentimes, as the election comes around, people start asking the questions; what did this person do? What happened in the administration? We felt that it is high time we put that to rest. We should have a standard of measurement of performance when this portal is launched – and I believe it should be launched sometime in Q4 – so that everybody will be able to see how the administration performs based on the campaign promises. We will see how each NDA is performing and how effective the project is that puts the power back in the hand of the people.
“We are also responsible for the technology driving LagosRide today. LagosRide is a Lagos State scheme with a pilot fleet of one thousand brand new Sedans and SUVs. That project was commissioned by the governor on the 23rd of March and we have been gaining some traction since we got it into the market.”
Explaining the process of developing a system for customers, Adeyemi explained that it begins with understanding what the customer or the client wants. He also emphasized, however, that this can be tricky because sometimes clients think they know what they want when in fact, they are not particularly clear as to what they want.
“It starts with several iterations. You need to have a lot of strategy sessions where you are bouncing ideas with one another and you would start gathering your requirements from theirs. When you are clear with what the expectations are, you start your product journey by building your required documents and then start from your ability to, first of all, understand what and who the stakeholders are, what their expectations are, what their roles are and how you would connect those two things together. This is because when you are able to strike that connection, then you are convinced that you have value at the table.
“Once you are done with your process requirement gathering and you are convinced that you have covered all your basis, you go back to your client to share this with them and then you go into the design set up. This is when you bring in a product designer who would then give you an image view of what your solution would look like and when you are done with that and all parties are aligned, you then go to your engineering team who would implement and execute what you have designed.
Speaking on the relationship with the NURTW, Adeyemi noted that the company has embraced collaborating in working with the group believed to be the custodian of that space. According to him, the key thing is understanding what is valid for them and putting on the table a proposition that meets that value.
He said, “Everybody has something they are looking for. It is the core of your strategy to be able to analyze it intelligently and objectively and figure out how to tap into it and lay a demand on it, what is required or proffer a solution. So far, we have not had any hindrance from them because we have opened up our doors to them and not shut them out. It is tedious because these are guys outside of the technological realm but we took it upon ourselves to teach and encourage them to embrace what is evolving.
“Also, life is evolving and the marketplace is too. Everybody will try to endure their position for the next move for what is coming. The status quo cannot remain forever. Given that, we have basically opened up the doors and given them the opportunity to be a part of what is going to change. If you refuse to change, you might just find out that you are completely left behind and you don’t even have anything to fight for.”
NOTE: Don’t miss out on the next Business Half Hour programme brought to you by Nairametrics. Tune in to Classic 97.3 FM every Monday by 8:00am to get inspired by startup founders and top business executives.