Africell Mobile network has been doing very well in Sierra Leone as they have been taking their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) seriously and working to improve its network all over the country. With an established annual revenue base of $260 million, Africell was awarded a $100 million financing agreement in November 2018 from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a US government agency that finances and supports investment by American businesses in emerging markets.
In August 2019, the US embassy in Sierra Leone convened a special meeting in Freetown to underline the significance of the OPIC support to Africell. Officials at the gathering noted that the OPIC financing will be used to expand availability and quality of telecommunications across Africell’s operations in Africa. “The solid partnership between the US embassy and the private sector, exemplified by this agreement with Africell, will lead to stronger relationships and fruitful development,” the former US Ambassador to Sierra Leone, Maria Brewer, said at the event.
Founded in 2001 by Ziad Dalloul, Africell is a multinational telecoms company headquartered in London, UK with operations in Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, The Gambia, and Sierra Leone. The company has about 14 million active subscribers across Africa. Africell Sierra Leone, launched in 2005, now covers more than 76% of Sierra Leone’s population. Since 2009, the company is rated as the top in the country’s telecoms sector with more than 4 million active subscribers and a growing footprint of 3G and 4G services.
Africell’s growth in Sierra Leone is driven mostly by data revenues, 20% of which comes from customer recharges for data products. Customers complain that rates and data service costs have been trending upwards in recent years. “We are the leading telecommunications and data operator in Sierra Leone and we intend to sustain and enrich this leadership position with the support of the OPIC funding,” Ziad Dalloul said.
The size and power of Africell, and its US connections, raise further concerns about the company’s avoidance of regulatory fees and the payment of much needed funds to the cash-strapped Sierra Leone government. As a US-backed company which makes hundreds of millions of dollars from African citizens, Africell is coming under increased scrutiny for failing to meet its decidedly minor financial obligations to the countries in which it operates.
Africell SL Managing Director Shadi Gerjawi attested to Africell’s commitment to “supporting all Sierra Leone through jobs creation” and “corporate social responsibility”, gestures which have been undermined by recent revelations of tax and licensing fee avoidance in an environment that already heavily favours multinational corporations and demands relatively miniscule payments in fees and taxes.