2024 NCSI Scores: Transportation sector excels, while e-commerce, power, real estate lag behind

L-R: Fellow WAACSP, Tunji Adeleye;
Patron WAACSP, Mrs Sola Salako-Ajulo;
Consumer Banking, Sterling Bank, Oge Obiodu; Member, Lilly West Buloala: Member, Ezinne Oluwawole and Team Lead NCSI group, Chris Anozie, at the unveiling of the 2024 state of customer service report in Nigeria by the Nigeria Customer Service Index group in Lagos.

Stanley Ihedigbo

Nigeria Customer Service Index (NCSI) group has released its State of Customer Service in Nigeria Report for 2024, marking the second edition of the annual assessment of service delivery, customer experience, and performance across various business and social service sectors in the country.

The report reveals that Nigeria’s overall Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) Index improved to 67% D) in 2024, up from 61% in 2023, indicating marginal growth.

Sectoral performance results show varying trends, with some sectors making significant progress, while others declined or remained stagnant.

The transportation sector emerged as the top-performing industry with a 73% rating, surpassing the hospitality sector (72%), which dropped from its 2023 first-place ranking.

The worst-performing sectors are the e-commerce sector (60%), power sector (61%), and real estate sector (62%), ranked lowest.

However, the Public sector showed notable improvement, rising from 47% in 2023 to 63% in 2024.

The sectors subsectors score education, private universities70%, public universities 61%, finance banking 68%, fintech 69%, healthcare public hospitals 57%, private hospitals 70%, hospitality hotels, parks & resorts 75%, bars, eateries & lounges 73%, general insurance 67%, health management organisations 60%, public sector government ministries & agencies 58%, and Nigerian Embassies and Missions Abroad 69%, as well as telecommunication GSM 61%, ISP 71%, transportation aviation 75%, Inter-State 66% and Intra-State 61%.

The public sector growth of 16 percentile score (47% -> 63%) was remarkable, telecommunications: 58% (2023)→ 63% (2024)Healthcare: 62% (2023)→70% (2024)Transportation:61%(2023)→73%(2024)Financial Services: 66%(2023)→72% (2024).

Despite infrastructure and manpower challenges in 2024, organizations marginally improved service delivery, according to the report.

According to the report, declining sector, e-commerce sector saw a decline from 68% (2023) to 60% (2024).

The NCSI 2024 survey was conducted online via www.nigeriacsi.org, receiving over 16,000 submissions (a 104% increase from 7,788 in 2023).

The survey ran from May 1 to December 31, 2024, and included responses from Lagos, Abuja, Oyo, Kaduna, Rivers, and Enugu, covering diverse age, education, and income brackets.

Over 1,000 organizations and companies participated in this survey, and more than 50 valid ratings were received, a prerequisite for being rated and listed on the NCSi.

The report assessed 12 sectors divided into 21 sub-sectors, using eight key evaluation parameters.

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In her remarks, Patron WAACSP, and founder, Consumer Advocacy Foundation of Nigeria, Mrs. Sola Salako-Ajulo, noted:

“I’m encouraged because when I started to wish for better customer service in Nigeria, there were no structures like this, and today, we have structures that are giving data and backing to the way consumers see it. So it’s a very encouraging report. Last year, we were here, and we saw how dismayed we were. This year we have moved up a bit, which shows that there are efforts in that sector.

“We need to keep improving. Nigeria is not where it should be, and our customer service culture still needs to improve. We’re hoping that with the NCSI report coming out annually, giving feedback to service providers on how the consumers in Nigeria feel about how they are being treated. It would encourage everybody in every sector to improve their quality of service, and it would also make Nigeria better and easier for all of us because if we are treated better, we will spend more money, and when we spend more money, our economy will improve.

“But if people treat you like you are not important, the money you are spending is harder, so you would consider whether you want to spend it or not. But if you are treated well, like in other countries where we go to and everybody says, oh, customer service is fantastic there. That’s why people spend money. That’s why there is a customer index. And the customer index is very high because people can walk in there and buy anything,” she stressed.

Salako-Ajulo further said that, after all, they know they will be taken care of, and will be treated like they want to see.

“That has also become the culture in every sector of Nigeria. So this report is like a mirror, showing all the service providers, this is how the people you serve are looking at you. This is what they see so that they can take a step to improve.”

The keynote speaker, Fellow WAACSP, Mr. Tunji Adeleye, emphasized that what cannot be measured, cannot be improved.

“So the first step towards improving the perception of customer service in Nigeria is for you to have a standard measurement that can show us exactly what people say, or what people are saying or see about our services. A lot of times, the mistake we organizations make is to look at customer service from our points of view.

“But we have to realize that it is the customer that makes us who we are as business people. So finally, we have a report that can show Nigerians, that they deserve better. Two, that they have a voice, that they can speak and they can complain, and they can relate to service providers, and three, they can hold service providers responsible or accountable for the service they are paying for,” he added.

In his speech, Team lead NCSI group, Chris Anozie said: “Most of the services you see that we rated today are not free services, not as if they are being given for free. A lot of service providers must realize that they need to own up, or they need to act and give the customer the service that they have paid for, the services that we deserve, and the services that are applicable in other global organizations.

“Then the last thing is the fact that we need to start to rate ourselves with global companies. A lot of times, we always feel that Nigerian companies are better. What we saw even in the Internet Service Provider (ISP) space, where our local provider was rated better by Nigerians than even a foreign provider, and that’s where that’s the power of information, that’s the power of measurement.

“That’s what you get by a body measuring what people feel about the service. It allows us to improve, but not all. And if you can see, I mean, from the 2023 report to 2024, we’re getting better. We’re not there yet, but we’re getting better. And the more we keep on showing people that there’s still a lot to do,” he further said.

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