Nairabot: A Breakthrough Nigerian Chatbot for Currency Exchange Rates via Facebook Messenger

When Facebook announced the inclusion of chatbots within its Messenger app for businesses back in April, it sparked a wave of rapid adoption as brands seized the opportunity to forge closer ties with their customers. Amongst this wave of chatbot enthusiasts was a local Nigerian developer, eager to leverage this technology for his countrymen. In my research, I stumbled across Nairabot, a chatbot that provides quick, accurate and up-to-date information on foreign exchange rates in Nigeria. This comes at a most opportune time when the fluctuating Nigerian Naira against the dollar has left many baffled.

This tool was developed by Fowotade Babajide, a 23-year-old prodigy based in Lagos. Nairabot fetches the latest exchange rates when you enter one of the following commands:

=> rates (to fetch parallel market rates)
=> convert 100 usd (to convert 100 dollars to Naira)
=> convert 100 dollars
=> convert 100 pounds to Naira

Additionally, it provides western union rates and can convert various foreign currencies to Naira at those rates. For instance:

=> wu (to get western union rates)
=> westy (an alternate command for the same)
=> wu convert 1000 euros (to convert 1000 euros to Naira at western union rates)
=> wu convert 100 pounds to Naira (to convert 100 pounds to Naira at western union rates)

It also provides the Central Bank of Nigeria exchange rates with the command => cbn rates.

Using Nairabot is straightforward. Simply launch the Messenger app on your smartphone or go to Facebook.com on a desktop and visit Nairabot’s page. For app users, simply search ‘Nairabot’ to find the chatbot, enter one of the above commands and presto! You have your exchange rates in no time.

You may ask, why bots? The uncomplicated answer is that they are the future. An article I wrote titled, Of The Many Apps On Our Phones, Majority Of Us Spend 80% Of The Time In Just Five Apps, reveals the potential chatbots hold. They have the aptitude to evolve and learn about user preferences and interests using advanced artificial intelligence (AI) techniques. Therefore, Nairabot, through consistent use, will be able to tailor its responses based on your history and suggest other useful features relevant to your queries. In turn, reducing our dependence on apps and facilitating mobile use for both social and business purposes.

According to a report by comScore, smartphone apps account for 50 percent of all digital media time in the United States. As the tech industry knows no geographical boundaries, especially when it comes to social media, we can assume similar conditions in other countries. In reference to a report by Jason Nkoju titled “The Rise of Bots,” Nigeria has approximately 16 million Facebook users, and a potential 18 million on Messenger, marking an approximately 250 percent increase from two years ago.

Looking into a crystal ball for the Nigeria tech sector, in the upcoming five years, it is expected that:

1. 100% of smartphone users will use messaging platforms.
2. 100% of business users will connect with customers via messaging platforms.
3. In due time, messaging platforms will become the Internet and will be adept at delivering information and services.
4. Most Telcos in Nigeria will offer social media-only packages.
5. As the above predictions become reality, they will create real value, starting with Messenger, Slack, and Whatsapp, and eventually rendering the platform redundant over time.

Yes, believe it or not, chatbots are the future of the world, and Nigeria, in tune with its colloquial parlance ‘we no dey carry last,’ is ready and eager to join in. A special thank you to Jide for this brilliant innovation.