Hi there, who do we have here?
Emmanuel: My name is Emmanuel Adeyemo. I’m the Product Manager for Seamfix Care, a product that has been a part of Seamfix’s pipelines in the UK for the Occupational Health Industry. Before now, I’ve worked in several other spaces within the Seamfix team from the Nigerian branch … I started with the business development team as a Business Insight and Partnership Manager for a few years, then transitioned into Product Management, and have been at it for over two years.
So, what has the transition experience been like in terms of challenges and everything in between?
Emmanuel: Okay. Moving to the UK and working with the UK team has been demanding in terms of the output, but in terms of challenges, I wouldn’t say it’s been challenging because it’s actually nothing new. I’ve been around for a while, so I know how to handle the challenges here. But, it has been very demanding because this is a new environment for us as a business. We are striving to do things right in terms of the business and also identify the right problems to solve.
So, in terms of challenge and demand, it’s been demanding for us because it’s not easy to be a technology giant coming from Nigeria and trying to build something new in an entirely different environment.
Okay, that’s very good. So far, seeing what Seamfix has been doing in the UK, and you being an inside man. Can you tell us what Seamfix is trying to achieve in the UK market?
Emmanuel:
Okay, for Seamfix, the basic idea for us was expansion and the UK is not the only country that we’ve expanded to. We’ve expanded to The UAE and we are also present in Uganda. But, the UK is a strategic location for us as a business – Europe. Having succeeded in Nigeria and by extension, Africa, we believed it was time to explore other markets, fields, and other problems that are not peculiar to Africa.
For instance, there are particular ways that we’ve looked at problems with the perspective of it being peculiar to Africa. So, we thought about how we can build products that not only pertain to Africa, but to the global economy. In the identity management space, we have done a lot of national enrollment for people in the diaspora; close to 2000 records.
We are also trying to build a new product for the Occupational Health Industry, basically, we are motivated by how we can contribute to the global economy, which is one of the necessities of expansion as a business.
Talking about expansion, is it a case of “doing great things from where we are” and then bringing these solutions to different places where they are needed? Or is it a case of “we have this thing and we want people to see more of this, to enjoy this in other areas”?
Emmanuel: I’d say it’s all of the above. We have services and solutions that we believe that other economies that we are pivoting in, such as the UK, UAE, and Uganda can actually benefit from. We are also trying to get more insight into their markets; how they operate, the extensions, and the areas or gaps that we believe we can also solve.
Yes, we’ve advocated success in Nigeria, but it’s also ideal that we look to the outside. By outside, I mean we are looking into this economy to see how to improve and what ideas to explore.
So, we’ve done a lot of exploration in this market and we’ve been able to get a number of solid ideas that we believe can transform some of the industries that we are currently looking at.
All right. So far, based on the feats you’ve achieved, can you say that Seamfix is on the track to doing more doing more, especially in the UK?
Emmanuel: Yeah, we are actually on a very good pedestal. Based on our feats over the years, we’ve learned a lot in terms of the problem in the Occupational Health sector. We have created a product that we believe in, one that we’ve also been able to validate in the market. It is something that would transform the way they currently do their business, as well as increase and introduce productivity to their operations. So, yes, we are in a very good position regarding this. I think we’ve done our due diligence. We’ve met and collaborated with industry stakeholders. We’ve learned a lot about the industry and the market that we’re going into.
It is necessary, you know, the decision to build and develop a platform that would be efficient for these segments of people. I’m sure that by the time we roll this out, it will be a massive success, not just for us as a business, but for companies like us that are also thinking of exploring different markets – that you can actually leave Nigeria and go to more established markets like the UK or the UAE and be successful within those markets.
That’s great! Seamfix is currently big in the telco space as a brand with unique ideas and many certifications. In the future, can you say that Seamfix will create a kind of industry that would be enviable for other competitors who wish to get into this space?
Emmanuel: Of course. I think we are gradually getting there. We recently celebrated our 15th anniversary and from that point on, it showed that there’s been tremendous growth and there are a lot of things to still be achieved. So, yeah, the Seamfix that we know now will surely be different from the Seamfix that a lot of people will know in the next few years.
Not only because of the expansions that we are making as a business but because we are one of the most preferred vendors when it comes to data and identity management in Africa. So, we built that industry and we made that name for ourselves. Identity, data management, and civil registration are the things that we’ve succeeded in over time.
We are spreading our tentacles so we don’t limit ourselves to that space, but expand identity and data management within the Occupational Health Industry. So, yes, we are simply going to be a powerhouse. We aim to be a unicorn, and we can boast of the right management team and people to achieve that together.
The strategic roadmap that we put in place shows that the company is headed in the right direction.
