“We don’t enjoy social media here”: Frustration with Mobile Network Providers in Sierra Leone
By Alfred Koroma
Osman Bah, mobile money agent searching for network in Mosm
In Mosam, a coastal village in Kargboro Chiefdom, Osman Bah often struggles to complete a single mobile money transaction due to poor network coverage. At times, the mobile money agent is forced to wait two to three days before a transaction goes through.
“Sometimes, when I want to send money, there is no network. Sometimes it takes two to three days to have a network. Customers come to me, but I can’t send or cash out money for them,” he said. Unless I travel to Shenge Town before I am able to cash out and send money.
Shenge is the Chiefdom headquarters of Kargboro, located 16 miles away from Mosam, where Bah lives. There, network is said to be a bit better sometimes.
Due to these constraints, Bah charges his customers extra beyond the standard transaction tariff, placing an additional financial burden on them. Additionally, airtime is more expensive in the village compared to other communities. For example, customers pay Le3 but receive only a Le2 airtime card. Similarly, if they pay Le5, they receive a Le4 card.
Three active telecommunications companies—Orange, Africell, and Qcell operate in Sierra Leone, primarily providing voice, data, internet, cloud, and mobile money services. However, only two—Orange and Africell operate in Kargboro Chiefdom.
With no banks nearby, mobile money, particularly Orange Money, serves as a lifeline for daily transactions in Mosam and other villages in the Chiefdom. Residents rely on agents to send and receive money, but network access challenges make transactions difficult, costly, and frustrating.
“When my relatives send me money, it takes days to receive the message,” says one of Bah’s customers, Ibrahim Mansaray.
He lamented that their struggle for access to network does not only affect mobile money transactions, they also struggle with making calls, using the internet, and accessing social media.
“We buy credit, we buy megabytes, but we can’t connect to the internet,” Mansaray said.
“When you send a message on WhatsApp, it takes a long time to be delivered. When a photo or a video is sent, you are unable to download it,” he added. “We don’t enjoy social media here.”
Back in Freetown, Yusif Mansaray, a master’s student, decided to switch from Orange to Africell network out of frustration. However, even with the latter, he still faces numerous challenges.
“I was using Orange, but it became too difficult to connect to the internet. That made me switch to Africell,” he told Concord Times from his residence in Shell.
He also mentioned that there are times he calls a phone number that he very well knows is on, but they end up telling him the number is switched off or outside the coverage area.
When contacted by Concord Times, Orange Sierra Leone attributed the poor network to the transition to 4G and widespread fiber cuts.
“We SWAPPED all our sites in the country to 4G. The swap impacted customers’ experiences, leading to dropped calls and slow internet speeds,” Orange Spokesman, Alfie Barrie said. “The swap is now complete. However, we are currently battling massive fiber cuts.”
Many Sierra Leoneans now rely heavily on their mobile phones for communication, research, work, digital transactions and social connections.
The number of mobile phones and internet users in the country is growing rapidly, with internet penetration projected to reach 47.29% this year.
As of 2022, approximately 30.35% of Sierra Leone’s population used the internet, increasing from 15.8% in 2018 to 27.6% in 2021, according to World Bank data.
Despite this growth, a substantial portion of the country’s population remains offline or ineffectively connected. Network service remains poor in many areas of the country, characterized by persistent call drops and slow internet speeds.
Tariffs and Disappearing Credit
Apart from poor network service, customers are also frustrated with how telecom companies deduct airtime (locally called credit) from phones. They accuse providers of unfairly deducting bundles and offering misleading data plans, particularly the weekly data subscription offered by Africell and Orange.
“We all know one week is seven days, but when you subscribe for a weekly plan, it only lasts four days. Sometimes, they just cut you off unless you wait a long time,” says Alpha Sesay, a Computer Science specialist who uses Africell for internet browsing.
“The amount I spend on data is too high. As a student, I use the internet 24 hours a day for study and research,” he added.
“The problem I have with Africell is that when you buy credit and subscribe for one week unlimited, by the time you download one or two things, they tell you your data is finished,” Yusif, who switched from Orange to Africell also told Concord Times.
However, Africell denies the claim, stating that internet speed naturally slows down when too many users connect to a MiFi device subscribed to a low Mbps plan.
“If you subscribe for Le60, that’s the level of Mbps you get. Some people subscribe for Le100 per week. But if you use a MiFi and connect too many people to a Le60 plan, the speed will obviously be slower compared to a Le100 plan used by a single person,” said Abdul Karim Sesay, the Communication person for Africell.
“Even when people say their data disappears, it depends on the type of phones they use,” he explained. “If you leave your data overnight, some applications update automatically, which consumes data.”
“From the backend, we advise users to check their apps, ensure they are updated, and monitor them before going to bed. For any concerns, always reach out to our customer call center,” Abdul Karim added.
For Orange, Yusif said, “When you buy two Leones worth of credit and make a call, by the time you say ‘hello,’ everything is finished. This is disturbing. I feel we are being cheated. They should reduce the tariff.”
Christiana Sia Mafinda also said she has stopped buying airtime for her Orange SIM because, each time she does, it disappears without her making a call.
She recalled a painful situation that forced her to stop buying Orange airtime. She bought Le10 airtime to call and confirm her son’s school program, but the airtime mysteriously disappeared without making the call, causing her to miss her son’s program.
“This has happened to me not once, not twice. Whenever I buy credit, it disappears from my phone without me calling anyone,” she said.
Orange claimed these deductions happen when some customers subscribe to certain value-added services. The company said it has a dedicated toll-free line to resolve such issues.
But, Christiana said the company has never answered her calls.
“Why should I not be able to make a call after buying credit?” she asked. “This is the question I want to ask them, but whenever I call customer care, they don’t answer.”
“Not answering my call makes me feel even worse,” she added. “Now, I don’t buy airtime on Orange. I’m okay with Qcell for now.”
In January, the National Telecommunications Authority, the regulatory body overseeing telecom companies in Sierra Leone, imposed a fine of one million U.S. dollars on Orange as a penalty for its poor network quality and failure to address subscribers’ concerns. The fine reflects growing dissatisfaction with the company’s services.
Despite the penalty, Orange’s network quality and service have not improved. However, Alfie Barrie disclosed the company’s plans to establish an $11 million data center in Bo to complement the existing one in Freetown and reduce network congestion.
Africell has also disclosed a rollout plan for this year, aimed at enhancing user experience and improving network service.
