Frank Atube: Our Commitment to Help Businesses Achieve Organisational Goals Not Wavering

As Seamfix celebrate its 15th years anniversary, the COO Seamfix, Frank Atube, in this interview with Oluchi Chibuzor, shared how they are empowering organizations to meet their goals through digital transformation and providing support for businesses across Africa by building solutions that make running business a whole lot easier and achieving business goals.

What is the challenge encountered during this 15 years of existence?

Simply having insufficient resources in all areas was one of the most significant challenges we faced. Both monetary and people resources were unavailable. When Seamfix first got started, it was not common practice to solicit financial backing or find investors. The process of building the company from the ground up was difficult, and as a result, we had to engage in a number of side hustles in order to finance the growth of the business.

In addition to this, it was challenging to find people who had the appropriate mindset and attitude. A worrying brain drain is currently taking place in Africa, and its effects should not be ignored.
Over the years, we have faced more and more challenges, as we have become a global company, as of late, a depressing fact has become apparent: in our effort to provide value on a global scale, the Nigerian people as a whole have been subjected to intense scrutiny. a prejudice that exists because of the current reality and reputation of our people in other parts of the world.

How did the firm overcome all these challenges?

At Seamfix, we focus a lot on finding the right solutions to problems across organizations. We have ramped up our efforts through Seamfix to broaden the scope of our Identity Switch, which can be found at https://verified.africa. This will allow regular people from all over the world to verify Nigerians no matter where they are located in the world. Seamfix is a company that works to ensure that you can trust an African in your next business transaction, beginning with Nigeria.
We concentrated on delivering value to customers so that we could overcome the initial monetary obstacle that we faced as a company. Creating value is the most important thing for us, even though making a profit may be the primary objective for the majority of businesses. When the value is created, money inevitably follows in its wake.

In regards to the brain drain, rather than trying to stop it, we have instead chosen to embrace it. Seamfix Next-Gen is a series of programs that we use to fulfill our commitment to the development of future leaders. At the same time, we have employees who have insisted on relocating outside of Nigeria, and we have accommodated their request by maintaining their positions in one of our offices located outside of the country.

What major milestone has the firm recorded in the last 15 years?

Seamfix’s solution has had an impact on 350 million+ people. We have developed over 500 leaders who can be found in various parts of the world. I’m referring to the world’s Google, Facebook and Amazon. Our solutions serve at least a thousand organizations. We have solutions for major banks, government agencies, telecommunications companies, fintechs and others. We have expanded into the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, and Uganda. We have completed over 180 million identity enrollments into functional and foundational databases.

Seamfix has grown from a few-man operation in a living room to a global company with over 200 employees spread across various geographies. Seamfix became Africa’s first software development company to receive ISO 27701:2019 PIMS certification. We have also received numerous awards. We are members of the GSMA, the only non-telecommunication company in Nigeria therein among other things.

What do you have to say in general concerning the business environment in the country?

Nigeria amongst other countries of the world are in tough times where there is hyperinflation and increasing standards of living. Particularly, the country is in a pre-election year which typically sees a reduction in governance rather than an increase in political activities in preparation for the next government. This setting to a very great extent affects the atmosphere for business operations within the countries. Organizations are seen being cautious or careful due to the unknown outcomes of the elections

What are the business plans going forward in terms of sustainability and expansion?

We are already expanding with a total of four offices around the globe. We are constantly evolving to stay ahead of time. It is our job to predict the future and provide solutions to potential future challenges.

We know that over the last two years have been a challenging period for most firms, what was the impact of COVID-19 on the organisation?

Like any other business, the COVID-19 pandemic presented its own unique set of challenges, but one of the most important things we learned from it was that we are no longer bound by the constraints of our geographic location. It was possible to work from any location, etc. Because of these difficulties, there were some products that we had to get rid of because they were doomed to fail.
We also had to reduce our expenses, but the thing situation that makes us the proudest is the fact that we never had a reason to have to lay off employees or let people go without jobs.

15 years of existence means diligence, resoluteness and commitment from all major stakeholders within the organisation. What is the secret to going strong and maintaining the vision and mission of your organisation?

Since I am a person of faith, I have come to the conclusion that God has been the driving force behind everything. In addition, I think the values that we hold most dear play a significant part in determining who we are and what makes up our genetic makeup. The things that define who we are as a company are things like employee satisfaction, ownership of the company, excellent leadership, innovative problem-solving, excellent teamwork, and continuous quality improvement. Every single Seamfixer has the same genetic makeup. When you have a group of people who are all working toward the same objective, it is much simpler to achieve success.

What is next for your organisation?

We have set ourselves the ambitious goal of accomplishing the following by the year 2030:
At the very least one billion users should have benefited from what we have to offer.
Our goal is to have intentionally developed one thousand leaders. At the very least 10,000 companies should benefit from our work, and we want to help our business partners increase their profits.

Generally, what do you have to say about the celebration of 15 years?

We have a tremendous amount of pride in the work that we are doing right now, and we fully intend to keep doing it. We view what we do as a race over the long haul rather than a dash to the finish line, and we are constructing a structure that can withstand the passage of time. We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to our coworkers, as it is because of them that Seamfix has become what it is today, as well as to our clients and business partners, as they are the reason we are in business.