Sierratel to relaunch as an MVNO

Details: Vaughan O'Grady; Category: Operators; 22 April 2026; 357 views

The government of Sierra Leone has approved the appointment of private sector operator Africell Sierra Leone as its investment partner for the relaunch of troubled state-owned telecommunications company Sierratel.

Africell Sierra Leone will partner with Sierratel under an MVNO model that will allow Sierratel to deliver mobile and telecom services to customers by leveraging existing network infrastructure rather than building and operating its own full-scale network.

Previous privatisation attempts failed after investors pulled out, citing the high cost of upgrading infrastructure, staff-related liabilities and strong competition in an already saturated market.

As news agency Ecofin reports, Technology and Innovation Minister Salima Bah has stressed this should not be seen as a privatisation but as a strategic repositioning. Sierratel will keep its brand and leverage its existing recognition. The partnership will apparently target underserved segments, including students and young professionals in the digital and creative sectors, with tailored products.

Whether this will help Sierratel to overcome existing challenges is hard to say. As we reported recently, it owes about US$6.3 million in employee-related obligations and carries around US$35 million in external debt to two banks.

The MVNO model, which would operate on a revenue-sharing basis with Africell and allows Sierratel to avoid heavy capital expenditure, offers clear benefits for the company, which will presumably now be able to relaunch voice, data and mobile money services, using Africell’s network, at a so far unspecified date.

The country’s regulator says Africell’s network covers just over 92% of the population for 2G, 77.48% for 3G and 61.72% for 4G. The most recent available figures indicate that Africell held a 54.51% market share at the end of 2024.

There is no reliable information on Sierratel’s present market share, if any.