Chief Minister Sengeh Advocates For Monetization of Social Media Contents in Sierra Leone
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday 12 February 2025
Sierra Leone’s Chief Minister, Dr. David Moinina Sengeh, has met with the leadership of Elcome International LLC to discuss their proposals for expanding internet access across the country, as part of government’s digital transformation efforts.
Chief Minister Dr. Sengeh, who is also Sierra Leone’s Chief Innovation Officer, said that his country already has the platforms and systems in place for mobile money and electronic payments, noting that what was needed was the willingness of the Chief Executives of big social media platforms to prioritize Sierra Leone. He assured them that the government would be ready to work together to reach those important decisions.
“Our people create, share and use content, but they do not get money for it, so it is in our interest, and His Excellency President Dr. Julius Maada Bio has made it a priority to make sure that we have connectivity, but also, our people can make money. If people are making money for their content, they will pay for the connectivity and it then becomes a win-win situation. We are ready to listen, learn and see how we can support our people,” he said.
On her part, Minister of Communication, Technology and Innovation, Ms. Salima Bah, reiterated the need to monetize social media content as a way of providing employment and skill opportunities for young people, adding that the government would look forward to having deeper conversations and building partnerships to improve and expand internet access to citizens at affordable rates. She is due to have deeper engagements with some of the platforms at the sidelines of the ongoing summit.
Managing Director of Elcome, Jimmy Grewal, mentioned that their primary interest was to connect people by providing technology solutions and internet access to their customers so that more people could stay connected with family and access government services. He furthered that they were leveraging their experience of providing connectivity to some of the remotest places of the world to address some of the connectivity challenges that existed globally. He also expressed their interest to work with Sierra Leone to support its digitalization drive.
Headquartered in Dubai, Elcome International LLC is a technology solution provider to customers, with over 55 years experience and huge global presence in several countries. Elcome also has a strong interest in investing in Sierra Leone’s technology industry.
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Mohamed Lamin Massaquoi
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