Orange SL has appreciated members of the fourth estate on their roles and contributions towards the company’s successes and achievements on Friday 2nd June at their Head Office, Hill Station in Freetown.

Speaking on the rationale behind the engagement with the media, Mabel Mason, member of Orange PR Unit revealed that this is their first media update in 2023, and they feel grateful for their contributions. She affirmed that if Orange is thriving in Sierra Leone, all due to the hard work and relentless effort of the media in ensuring they propagate whatever Orange is doing.

The Key note speaker of the event Bolor Sesay hailed journalist present at the auspicious ceremony as revered member of the Fourth Estate. He revealed that the media landscape in Sierra Leone over the years has undergone transformation for the past two decades and the emergence of the New Technology has opened opportunities for more vibrant and diverse media.

Sesay states “For Orange Sierra Leone, the media plays an important role in building brand awareness, connecting to our customers and achieving business goals. The media is important for promoting products and services in the public. Orange therefore relies heavily on the different media channels which are the television, radio and online platform to advertise its products and services. So therefore it is an important note to know that the brand awareness connecting to the customers and achieving business goals is one of the critical roles the media can play to Orange Sierra Leone”

He further pointed out that the media has helped engaged directly with their existing customers addressing every issue they have via platforms like face book or twitter. Sesay confirmed that the company can now use it website, customer’s service hotline in resolving customer’s queries and complaints in a timely manner. He added that Orange can now monitor customer’s sentiments and satisfaction on it product and services.

He encapsulates that the media also serves as a platform for Orange to promote it brand values and it corporate initiatives through raising awareness on youth development programmes, women’s empowerment, youth development programmes and financial inclusion.

He acknowledged that the media has played an integral role in Orange SL business through deliberate marketing, advertising, facilitating customer’s service and boosting the company’s image and credibility.

Madam Danetta Young, General  Secretary of Orange SL described the day as a symbolic moment for Orange SL because they recognized the significance of the media and appreciate their unwavering commitment for being  accurate, reliable and giving out timely news to the public about the company’s to the about this great company.

“As a company, we recognized the critical role that the media plays in upholding the ideals of freedom of the press and keeping the public informed. We valued our partnership with you and we are committed to working together with you to ensure that our news and events are accurately and fairly reported to the general Public. We understand that the work you do require significant efforts, time and resources and we want to assure you that we respect your dedication to your craft. We are also committed to your Transparency, Accountability and we believe in an open and honest communication with the Public and the Media and with time to provide early and timely information about our operations and events. In this age of Social media and Fake news, it is reassuring to know that we can still turn to trusted news and organizations to provide us with unbiased, fact based reporting” She states.

The President of the Sierra Leone  Association of Journalists  [SLAJ], Ahmed Sahid Nasralla revealed that the relationship between Orange SL, SLAJ and the media generally has come a long way base on mutual respect, supports and benefits. He further pointed out that Orange has helped sustained the media in Sierra Leone especially when the media was going through difficult times, coming from the backdrop of Covid-19 and lack of advertising. He recalled how Orange supported SLAJ in a number of programmes during his tenure as Secretary General of SLAJ under the reign of Kevin Lewis. He confirmed that Orange supports SLAJ in providing Scholarship for journalists with Masters Degree to go to Fourah Bay College and  Pursue their PhD  programmes. He affirmed that the company had also supported children of  Journalists to pay their fees to complete their Junior Secondary Education.

In his presentation of all what Orange is about, Kamal Abass, Head of PR/CSR revealed that Company’s CEO, Sekou Amadou Bah who joined the company in March 2022 and his strong management team are the major pillars for them to stay successful as a business. Describing the strength of the CEO, he confirmed that he is an engineer with wealth of experience in the field of Finances, Innovations, Management, and mobile money among others.

He confirmed that this year they have added four new directors which he described as a manifestation that the company is growing in terms of their activities and to take the first place in the Telecommunications business in Sierra Leone.