Innovating for Progress: Botswana Life Introducing the Facebook Chatbot for Mosako

GABORONE – Botswana Life Insurance Limited has launched another innovation. The Mosako Funeral Plan is now available through a chatbot on a Facebook-based solution that ensures a more accessible and efficient service process.

“Across the BIHL Group, we believe in leveraging our Strength in Numbers and collaborating with an innovative edge for progress. The Mosako Funeral Plan is a gem in the Botswana Life Insurance Limited suite of solutions and engineered with full support and inclusion of the Group’s combined talent,” said Catherine Lesetedi, CEO of Botswana Insurance Holdings Limited (BIHL) Group.

Primarily designed for individuals who are considered unbanked, the Mosako Funeral Plan allows the policyholder to cover up to 27 family members in a single policy. “We understand our customers’ need for a stable support system through this uncertain socio-economic period, as well as their desire for greater accessibility and convenience, and seamless and safe service delivery. Our new Facebook-based chatbot was designed to adhere to all these needs,” added Lesetedi.

Michael Gondo, Executive: Innovation & Growth at Sanlam Pan Africa said the social media statistics are mind boggling as they provide a sense of how and where current and future customers interact. “Facebook has about 2.7 billion users globally, making this the most widely used social media platform. In Africa, the number of people who use the Internet is now about 600 million. Facebook has close to 300 million users in Africa. In Botswana, Facebook is estimated to have about 1.3 million subscribers. These statistics indicate the significance of social media platforms.

“However, the challenge is that the social media platforms have been predominantly used for social interactions and less so for e-commerce transactions. Translating social media platforms into e-commerce platforms will require some change management and as a result they will not necessarily take off that quickly, but rather over time,” said Gondo. One of BIHL’s strategic pillars is Innovation & Agility. This was truly demonstrated through the Group’s Facebook implementation, which was done in a record time of 18 days.

In conclusion, Gondo said, “Credit to all the mission teams who have worked around the clock to achieve this milestone. By offering the Facebook sales platform, the BIHL Group and Botswana Life continue to lead the market with cutting edge innovation. Over the next few years, we expect an increasing number of our targeted customers to utilise and leverage the Facebook solution. This comes at a time when building and implementing omni digital sales channels align very well with the future-fit requirements of the fourth industrial revolution.”