Samuel Kallon 
By Ibrahim Karim Bangura (Tanko)
Afrimoney-SL, the leading mobile cash operator in the country, has entered into an online platform partnership payment agreement with the Sierra Leone Water Company (SALWACO).
The event happened on Friday May 24th, 2024 at SALWACO headquarters office Tower Hill, Freetown, and it attracted several personalities from all walks of life.
In his statement, Apostle Dr. Albert Harrison Harvey, Deputy Managing Director of SALWACO who also double as Master of Ceremony (MC) said the driving motivation for the launch among other things is to enhance revenue generation and efficiency by the company.
He described the agreement as a significant landmark being achieved as they strive for a continuation of the company’s journey towards excellence. He said the initiative will reduce burden and error while promoting transparency and accountability, giving convenience and satisfaction to customers and to seeing that SALWACO leads by example.
Speaking during the session, SALWACO’s Managing Director, Ing. George Lamin Vandy said the launch is a move to continue to carry out the re-engineering strengths of the company.
“[All] about management is continuity,” he said.
He added that his leadership is looking forward to implementing several strategies and approaches that enable the company to grow.
He further spoke on the emergence of new units and departments at SALWACO all of which, he said, are aimed at making sure that the institution continues to deliver on its mandate.
He added that the launch is a development-oriented process and asked that the platform is fully used for the purpose for which it has been created.
The Permanent Secretary (substitute) at the Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation, Raymond Komba said the move by SALWACO was worthy of emulation and called for a judicious usage of the platform.
Head of Water Regulatory Commission, Dr. Emmanuel Mannah said with a focus on revenue generation, revenue security should be paramount.
He said it is therefore necessary to monitor the pilot phase of the launch and to see that there is coordination while working to ensure compliance. He also encouraged Afrimoney to work with other departments and agencies noting that the effort is very laudable.
Martison Obeng-Agyei, Director of Afrimoney Sierra Leone Company, described the partnership launching as very important as he emphasized how water is vital daily on the lives of all human beings.
He said moving along with digital platforms is highly recommended by institutions, adding that institutions the world over are now implementing digitalized concepts and approaches to their operations.
He said the platform and the event are critically important while appreciating the support and team work his team was shown by the Water Ministry and SALWACO.
He assured their partner that they are ready and ever so willing to sort out any challenges promising to show up from time to time.
“This will be a system of trust because it has the ability to ensure the promotion of financial inclusion as there will be invaluable insights to customer behavior and the ushering of a new era in public service delivery in Sierra Leone,” she said.
To pay for SALWACO Water Bill, simply dial via Afrimoney – *161*2*11*11#, he said.
One of the Board Members of SALWACO, Madam Rosaline McCarthy who represented the Board Chairman said that the launching of the platform is a remarkable achievement.
“The theme for today’s event is Leveraging on Digitization to Enhance SALWACO’S Efficiency and Sustainable Service Delivery is largely in line with the theme of the 2023 SALWACO retreat which was held in Kenema.”
“It was captioned as Revenue Generation for Sustainable Development,” she told attendees.
“With digitalization, she added, SALWACO will save time, energy and resources because anyone could be at his or comfort and pay for water rates.”
While this is laudable, I call on the leadership of Afrimoney to ensure that enough Afrimoney points of sales and access are placed in all SALWACO areas of operations, she said.
“This will help to make things easier and better,” she noted.
Providing the keynote address, Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Dr. Sao-Kpato Hannah Max-Kyne said with the addition of the aspect of sanitation to the Water Resources Ministry, the scope is now being widened. Enhanced partnership between the public and private sector is highly recommended, she pointed out.
“Water and Sanitation will greatly help achieve the objective of President Bio and the government of Sierra Leone,” adding that the pioneering collaboration between SALWACO and Afrimoney is a step in the right direction.
She said water is not just a necessity, but a human rights issue, noting that the completion of a seven-year strategic plan of the ministry equally capture all of such pivotal aspirations.
She said there is power in digitalization and that it is [digitalization] more than just a trend, adding that enhancing professional and smooth efficiency are also some other virtues of the collaboration.
