By Mohamed Juma Jalloh
When Corona virus struck China in late December 2019, Europeans anticipate little that a spillover of the virus to the African continent is imminent.
Complacency crept in. Europe with all its sophisticated health systems and early warning mechanisms downplayed the swift transmigration of the disease.
There was normalcy until Countries such as Italy and Spain began confirming exponential cases of the Corona virus.
Eventually, the country that hosts the most watched league in the world; England became affected.
As a means of preventing the virulent spread of the disease, all crowd generating events have been temporally halted until the virus is put under control.
Football has been the most popular of sports in Europe being the first to bear the brunt of the COVID-19.
Players and Managers were getting infected with the virus including the Arsenal football club manager, Mikel Arteta.
For fear of a deadly virus, all players were dispatched to their home countries.
After witnessing a firsthand destruction of the disease, some players became more generous and donate to communities.
The financial contributions to the fight of the virus by popular players such as Christiano Ronaldo and Saido Mane did not go unnoticed in their countries. Philanthropy is indeed boundless! Until the spread of the disease is sorted out, some players have vowed to forgo their weekly salaries as stipulated in their contractual agreements.
As the disease intensifies across Europe, the stock market becomes puzzled and marred in uncertainty. Shares are falling in the stock market; businesses are at the brink of collapse and workers redundant. Moreover, the betting industry which offers a unique opportunity to customers to try their chances on football fixtures is the most affected by the closure of the European football leagues.
An assessment by NightWatch of the interruption of European Football Leagues by the Corona Virus has depicted far-reaching economic ramifications beyond borders of Europe.
In Africa in general and Sierra Leone in Particular, football is undoubtedly the most popularly watched sport.
Mercury international, a leading betting and entertainment company has been offering the public the opportunity to play thrilling games with cash prices.
Mercury is arguably the fastest growing business in Sierra Leone with a network of sales vendors for football bets across the country.
Mercury vendors earn a commission on every ticket of football betting sold to customers.
It has served as a form of employment for many Sierra Leoneans youths who are unable to break into the formal labour sector.
Cognizant of the fact that youth are synonymous with perpetuating violence; the allocation of vending machines to many youths has a direct relationship to the reduction of crime in various communities.
During the weekends, Sierra Leoneans from different class and age brackets try their luck for a windfall amount.
The prevalence of poor and insufficient salaries among the working class has led many workers to use the betting industry as a means of complementing their incomes.
As a result, the economic importance of the betting industry to many people should not be underestimated.
If there is a concurrence of the bet to that of the football results, there is a guarantee of winning a substantial amount of money.
As of Wednesday 13th march 2020, 0ver 18,000 customers flooded the mercury international payment centers across the country as the company dishes out over Le4.7 Billion payout in oddest regular (football) settings.
Even those with damaged and misplaced tickets are assured of receiving their payments.
Mercury does not only dish out millions, but also creates the environment for Sierra Leoneans to actualize their dreams.
The average winner is normally expected to take home Le2million which can be utilised in solving the pressing needs of customers including health, education and home maintenance.
With the interruption of the football leagues, betting clients can no longer try their luck for their favourite teams.
Mohamed Kamara, a vendor machine operator says the pre- Corona Virus profit he was earning has drastically reduced with the closure of European football matches.
“People are only betting on lottery draws because there are no football fixtures to bet on,” Mohamed Kamara noted.
The Corona Virus Status Quo has huge financial implications to Mercury international as it financial accruements from customers are slowly ebbing away.
To maintain financial stability, it is only natural for mercury international to roll back some its activities.
The Company can boast of a radio station that airs draws and fixtures and the broadcasting of sporting activities and programmes.
Apart from owning a radio station, Mercury international gives opportunity to the local media to actualise growth.
Every month, Mercury international has a marketing package for media owners.
It gives opportunity to the print media to incur production cost and at the same time makes some profit to pay employees.
Many newspapers in the country normally run advertisements of football fixtures and lottery draws amounting to millions of Leones in the form of revenue.
In reality, many newspapers would find it extremely challenging to fund operations without the corresponding inflow of advertisements from the private sector.
Prince Coker the owner of The Whispers newspaper did not underestimate the importance of Mercury International to the survival of his business.
“Depending on the nature of the agreement, financial disbursements in respect of advertisements are promptly paid by Mercury international at the end of every month”. Mr Prince Coker confirmed.
There are arduous delays in the payment for advertisements emanating from government institutions but that is not the case with mercury international.
Therefore, many media institutions seek succor from private sector advertisements because payments are forthcoming within a month.
The urgency of payments from Mercury International makes it distinct from other public sector institutions.
Moreover, with the advent of such a financially precarious situation arising from the spread of COVID 19; Mercury International is expected to roll back its philanthropic commitments.
Since its establishment in Sierra Leone, Mercury International has occupied an unrivalled position in corporate philanthropy.
It has recently signed the contract for the construction of the Mercury International funded All Girls Secondary School in Port Loko.
Mercury international also pledged the sum of One Le140, 000,000 (One hundred and forty million Leone) as a support to the Freetown City Council`s `Freetown Tree Town Campaign` which will see the total of one million trees planted in the city.
A memorandum of understanding was also signed between Mercury International and the Ministry Of Basic and Senior school Education for the construction of 80 single classroom buildings.
The above examples are just a tip of the ice bag, considering the innumerable philanthropic accomplishments of Mercury international. However, the present unfavourable situation precipitated by the advent of the COVID 19 would only force the company to re-think its advertisement strategy and philanthropic commitments.
Therefore, it is advisable for media companies to be on a financial guard because mercury international like many businesses are adopting coping strategies to survive in the midst of COVID 19.