The government has announced a major step toward revitalizing Sierra Leone’s moribund state-owned telecommunications company, Sierratel, through a strategic private sector partnership with Africell.
Speaking at the government weekly press conference on Tuesday, the Minister of Communication, Technology and Innovation, Salima Monorma Bah, said a 10-year partnership agreement between Sierratel and Africell has been approved by cabinet, with an option for a five-year renewal, subject to performance reviews.
Minister Bah said the arrangement is not a privatization but a collaborative effort under a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) model. This framework, she said, will allow Sierratel to utilize Africell’s infrastructure to restore and expand its services, while maintaining government ownership and preserving the Sierratel brand.
Under the agreement, Sierratel will provide voice, data, and mobile money services through a revenue-sharing model aimed at promoting affordability and competition in the telecommunications sector, Bah said, citing Lycamobile as a successful global example of the MVNO model in practice.
As part of the initial steps to stabilize the company, Africell has already advanced $2 million to address Sierratel’s outstanding obligations to its staff, including salary arrears and benefits. However, Bah stated that the government remains responsible for reimbursing Africell and settling all outstanding liabilities.
She disclosed that the total staff obligations of the company amount to $6.3 million. The revamped Sierratel services, she added, will focus particularly on students and young people, especially those engaged in digital and creative industries.
Providing historical context, the Minister of Employment, Labour and Social Security, Mohamed Rahman Swaray, highlighted longstanding challenges that have plagued the state-owned enterprise, citing a $35 million loan secured from EXIM Bank to procure CDMA technology that later became obsolete due to lack of factory support. This, he said, greatly contributed to Sierratel’s operational decline.
Despite these setbacks, Minister Swaray assured of the government’s commitment to reviving the company through innovative solutions.
He outlined key labour concerns currently being addressed, including salary backlogs, accrued leave allowances, and union dues. The $2 million, he noted, will help mitigate some of these issues in accordance with the Employment Act of 2023.
Francis Matturi, Sierratel’s interim managing director, attributed the company’s struggles to a lack of sustained reforms and continued reliance on outdated technology. He explained that Sierratel was formed through the merger of the Sierra Leone External Telecommunications (SLET) and the Sierra Leone National Telecommunications Company (SLNTC).
Currently, the company offers limited services, primarily wholesale bandwidth through fibre and fibre-to-the-home (FTTx) infrastructure.
Matturi said they have conducted a comprehensive assessment of staff liabilities and submitted their report to the Anti-Corruption Commission for review before any payments is processed.
The government says this partnership with Africell marks a critical turning point in restoring Sierratel’s competitiveness and expanding access to affordable telecommunications services across the country.
