by Abiola Bonuola
Many Nigerians will find that Chinese proverbs carry deep meanings. Consider this popular one: ‘A journey of a thousand miles begins with a step’ which particularly resonates with my thoughts on Plaqad and what the new platform really means for the African labour market.
I started my career in the marketing industry three years ago with a step; I moved from being a media girl to a PR and Marketing Communications professional. And I was still having fun at ID Africa when Ayeni Adekunle whom we fondly call ATG pitched my marketing skills to Gbenga Sogbaike and before I knew it, I found myself as a pioneer Sales and Telemarketing Advisor at Plaqad.
At first, I was sceptical about the job because I wasn’t sure the company had the resources to manage an online marketplace not to speak of an analytics platform. As another proverb states, ‘a little impatience will spoil great plans.’
Maybe this piece is about me having a special place in my heart for Asians or I’m being superficial or I have something to say about the idea of growth and the Nigerian marketing and tech space. We will find out shortly.
Let’s consider the Africa labour market of today. An article was written by Michael Weber, a Senior Economist with the World Bank highlighted a survey conducted by the organisation between May and June 2020 revealing that ‘45% of Nigerians lost their jobs to Covid-19’. This amounts to about ninety-two million more people without jobs in ‘the giant of Africa’.
I’ve personally been in a job seeking position and I can state it is not a comfortable space to be mentally and physically. But working at Plaqad has opened my eyes to huge opportunities. I have found answers to many frequently asked questions on how to get freelance jobs, work with big brands and have money in the bank all the time.
Plaqad seeks to change the African narrative as the world’s first end-to-end marketplace and analytics platform not just to be the number one marketing technology company, to emerge from Africa. The company is an emerging tech brand that helps brands and individuals amplify their messages by connecting them with influencers, content creators, and publishers, and providing them with the tools and resources they need to effectively engage their audience. That is a force and I am especially pleased to be a part of such innovation.
Right now, Plaqad currently has offices in Nigeria, US and UAE, and the platform, Plaqad.com can be accessed by users from anywhere in the world. Imagine an African brand that can compete with Cision, Talkwater, Meltwater, Fiverr, Upwork, Traackr, TapInfluence, MediaKix, and Keyhole.
Plus I don’t have to start searching for prospects from scratch. Plaqad has signed up over 15,000 influencers, creators, and publishers who have successfully placed over 25,000 pieces of content on social and web platforms across four continents. Plaqad has directly paid out over one million dollars to members, effectively helping them to monetize their content, platform and influence.
And as Plaqad CEO Gbenga likes to say: ‘the work is just about to begin’
If you’re still reading this, my last Chinese proverb for this article is, ‘be not afraid of going slowly, be afraid only of standing still’