Post a comment
The National Commission for Social Action (NaCSA) has on 13 March 2023 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Orange Money Sierra Leone at their Headquarters in Freetown.
The agreement is for the third phase of the Emergency Cash Transfer (ECT) which may ensure the usage of mobile money.
The social safety net is the country’s flagship project at the moment and having a paid delivery system as one of its building blocks, according to the Director of Protection at NaCSA, Idrissa Turay.
He added that the said project will phase out in June for another successful project that will also be productive for the people of Sierra Leone.
He maintained that, during the emergence of COVID-19, they rolled out the emergency cash transfer (ECT 1 and 2) to the poor and needy people within the net.
It was recorded that, orange money was selected amongst many transfer systems to deliver cash transfers to 35,000 beneficiaries, who were elderly-headed households, female-headed households, and households with persons with disabilities in eleven district towns respectively. They also disclosed that the ECT is a contingency emergency response component of the World Bank to support vulnerable beneficiaries that are impacted by the Ukraine war.
The CEO of Orange Money, David Manaray said, it had been a long journey trying to engage NaCSA spanning from 2019. He added that, Orange Money had grown over the years as well as working with other institutions to provide sustainable services which have been great.
The ECT, he said, will contribute to economic growth and the funds used for the right purposes assuring that all funds will be accounted for and there is better security attached.
He disclosed that orange money has worked on similar projects with WFP, WHO, Ebola, and COVID-19 victims and it was efficient and effective.
The partnership between orange money and NaCSA is a significant step toward financial inclusion and poverty reduction in Sierra Leone. The cash transfer using mobile money is an effective tool to provide support to vulnerable individuals during crisis times and with the success of the ECT, more partnerships between mobile money providers and government agencies are likely to be formed to promote financial inclusion in Sierra Leone, as noted.
