Part Nine — “Logged Out: How Sierra Leone’s ICT Future Was Hacked by Neglect and Greed”
By Jarrah Kawusu-Konte
Freetown, Sierra Leone — On a bustling Monday morning in Freetown, 22-year-old software developer, Ibrahim Sorie Mansaray, sits inside his office, attempting to upload his team’s app prototype. The connection times out. He sighs. “Imagine trying to code a future in a country where 3G is a luxury,” he says. “We’re building the 21st century with 1990s tools and infrastructure.”
Across Sierra Leone, dreams of a digital transformation are being crushed under the weight of poor regulation, elite capture, failing infrastructure, and opaque telecommunications deals. In this age of Artificial Intelligence revolution, which uses data as the new oil, Sierra Leone is watching its reserves leak into foreign pockets, while its youth stay unemployed and its systems remain manual, fragile, and archaic.
An Industry with Exponential Promise
The ICT sector is globally regarded as a development multiplier, enhancing governance, education, healthcare, innovation, entertainment, and citizen empowerment. In countries like Rwanda, Ghana, and Kenya, ICT has accelerated economic inclusion, increased government transparency, and driven foreign direct investment. ICT contributes more than 10% to GDP in Rwanda and over 7% in Ghana. In contrast, in Sierra Leone, ICT contributes less than 3.1% to GDP (World Bank, 2023), despite over 80% mobile penetration, youthful demographics, and proximity to undersea cable infrastructure.
“We are a nation plugged into the digital age with the power turned off,” said one telecom analyst with the Africa Broadband Coalition.
From Promise to Plunder: Gains Reversed Post-2018
Between 2010 and 2017, under the APC-led government, Sierra Leone made strides:
- Expanded fiber optic backbone under the Africa Coast to Europe (ACE)
- Community ICT centers in Bo, Kenema, Port Loko, and Makeni
- Gradual integration of ICT in governance, education, health with
- e-Governance initiatives like the e-passport system and court case tracking.
The National Telecommunications Commission (NATCOM), then headed by technocrats, was seen as relatively transparent in license management, fee collection, and policy direction. SierraTel, the state-owned telecom provider, began upgrading from copper to LTE, and digitizing switchboards.
But post-April 2018, this progress unraveled. “What we’re seeing is digital regression,” said Dr. Jemima Kobina, an ICT policy expert based in Accra. “The ecosystem has been handed to ‘oligarchs’ and political fixers.”
The Collapse of SierraTel: A National Disgrace
SierraTel was once envisioned as the people’s gateway to sovereign digital inclusion. It had 300+ employees, local switching centers, and national infrastructure.
Today, it is in ruins.
- Employees went 8–10 months without salaries and then the company collapsed
- Severance packages were never paid
- Technical infrastructure was stripped and cannibalized
- Its assets, including gateway and co-location sites, quietly leased or handed to private firms with no competitive bidding.
A July 2023 investigation found that over $4 million in co-location and frequency licensing revenue collected via SierraTel’s towers was never accounted for in NATCOM’s public statements.
“This is betrayal at the highest level,” said former SierraTel engineer. “We gave our lives to this company. Now our children beg.”
Opaque Contracts, Unclear Gateways
Licenses granted to ISPs and mobile companies are shrouded in opacity. NATCOM has not published a full breakdown of:
- Who owns the gateway license
- What percentage of traffic revenue is remitted to the state
- How infrastructure-sharing agreements are priced or audited
According to Freedom House’s 2022 ICT Sector Integrity Index, Sierra Leone scored below 35/100 on:
- Public transparency of license holders
- Regulatory independence
- Public interest representation in telecom decisions.
Worse still, contracts for digital migration of television, e-learning platforms, and state cloud data storage have been awarded without parliamentary debate, violating procurement regulations.
“It’s a digital gold rush, but only the few dig, while the nation drowns,” said a former NATCOM auditor who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Access, Affordability, and Inequality
Despite bold speeches about “digitizing education,” basic access remains abysmal:
- Average mobile data costs are 6x higher than Nigeria and Ghana
- Network blackouts are common in rural districts. Over 92% of schools still lack computer labs or internet
- TV signal strength and quality in the provinces remains below 2012 levels
- Online TV operators and subscribers struggle to reach or enjoy optimal services
Even within Freetown, students at Fourah Bay College report unavailability of campus Wi-Fi.
“How do you write a well- research thesis when your video lecture can’t load and you have no access to online resources?” asked Mariam, a third-year political science student.
In Bonthe, Moyamba, and Falaba, parents still queue to send WAEC registration by bike courier. Court dockets and patient records are handwritten, lost or duplicated. Government ministries rarely update websites. This is not mere inefficiency. It is digital injustice.
A Nation Hacked by Its Own
ICT was supposed to be Sierra Leone’s leapfrog, an accelerator of transparency, youth jobs, and global competitiveness. Instead, it has become another theatre of exploitation. Elite-linked firms dominate data provision, with import waivers, monopoly pricing, and zero commitments to invest in rural access. Government broadband programmes are shelved. Public service digitization is outsourced, often to firms linked to senior officials.
A 2023 Africa ICT Infrastructure Audit noted that:
“Sierra Leone’s digital future is compromised by patronage and lack of fiscal transparency. The state has no strategic ICT identity.”
Dr. Ibrahim Bangura’s Vision: “Code the Future, Don’t Steal It”
Speaking with me about his Technology Innovation plans, Dr. Ibrahim Bangura said:
“Digital injustice is modern oppression. It locks out youth, silences voices, and steals futures. We must reboot, with dignity, sovereignty, and vision.”
His Proposed National Digital Sovereignty Strategy might include:
- Revive and Reinvent SierraTel
- Re-establish SierraTel as a viable publicly-owned, commercially-run digital carrier
- Audit and retrieve leased assets
- Invest in rural broadband and national Wi-Fi zones
- Publish All Telecom Contracts
- Full online disclosure of licensees, gateway rights, co-location agreements, and fees
- Parliamentary oversight on all ICT infrastructure contracts
- Create a Digital Youth Employment Fund
- Finance 1,000 ICT internships, coding bootcamps, and start-up seed grants annually
- Partner with universities to launch tech hubs in all regions
- Restore and Expand National Backbone
- Extend fiber from Freetown to Kailahun, Kabala, and Pujehun
- Launch Community Internet Cooperatives in remote towns
- Implement a National Digital TV and e-Government Plan
- Ensure all districts receive equal TV signal coverage
- Digitize school and hospital systems through public cloud infrastructure.
Conclusion: A Nation Left on the Loading Screen
From the ghosted halls of SierraTel to the dead zones of Kambia and Tonkolili, Sierra Leone’s ICT story is not one of failure, but of betrayal. Betrayal of the youth. Of local innovation. Of sovereign potential. And of a digital economy that could have lifted millions.
“We’re not just losing data, we’re losing dignity,” said Dr. Bangura. “This must stop.”
As the 2025 APC lower-level elections near, the question is not just about who speaks about change, it is about who codes it into the system. With Dr. Ibrahim Bangura’s leadership, Sierra Leone can log back into the internet, to justice, opportunity, and the future.