Sierra Leone is among many where abject media poverty has gained a foothold. It goes without saying that media institutions hardly perform top-notch owing to financial constraints. Lack of meaningful investment worsens an already polarised situation.
Adverts are hard to come by, a problem that is compounded by failure of advertisers to pay on time. Sometimes they don’t pay at all. Ministries, departments and agencies of government owe the media huge sums of money which is a clear attempt at strangling the media to death.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MFAIC) stands as a bright example of ministries that have failed to offset its media debts. It owes this press several millions Leones in debts for ads. MFAIC may owe similar ads debts to media houses. All what the ministry did was to apologise to the newspaper management to write off the debt. Without ads money, where will media institutions get money to finance their operations.
Nightwatch is not the only newspaper trapped into such dance of destiny, other media houses also find themselves in similar situation. It goes without saying that no media house in Sierra Leone can succeed in business out of what they get from sales. Suffice it to say only ads whose money come on time keep them going. The sport betting company, Mercury International Sierra Leone is therefore one of the main institutions the media in Sierra Leone can turn to for ads so that they can survive in the industry.
Mercury International fully opened for business in Sierra Leone in July 2007 after acquiring a licence from government the previous year for a state of the art lottery and sports betting. Records show that the company started off with a workforce of 35, but now has over a hundred staff of local Sierra Leoneans serving fellow Sierra Leoneans.
The company has shown its relevance to many sectors of the economy with a particular focus on the media. Newspapers, radio and television in Sierra Leone have, for a long time, regarded Mercury as a strong and reliable source of income for the media. The income back up provided for the media by Mercury International is seen in adverts (ads) given to the media.
It is also no gainsaying that advertisements is a key business model in Sierra Leone where the reading culture has drastically dropped. It is safe to say that there is no newspaper, radio or television that has not benefitted from Mercury International adverts for which they receive monthly payments. Mercury does its payment on time, and owes no media institution.
The media business thrive through timely payments for ads. As Mercury ads continue to run in media outlets, a managing editor in one of the newspapers wonders how Sierra Leone media would look like without Mercury support.
“Mercury pays for its adverts more than any other company and government agency, and most times, pays before time,” one of the managing editors told this press. The managing editor is among those who subscribe to the notion that as long as Mercury continues to operate Sierra Leone, the media is assured of a brighter future.
He was however appalled at government’s failure to invite the sport-betting company to the two-day media investment forum at Bintumani hotel in Freetown. He is also sure that Mercury International could be a potential investor in the media in light of its meaningful contributions to media institutions in Sierra Leone throughout its years of existence.
Out of the media, Mercury International has also improved livelihoods by creating jobs for a teeming number of youth In sierra Leone. From the capital city to the smallest village in Sierra Leone, Mercury enjoys a well-established presence making it quite difficult for a competitor to penetrate and dominate the industry. Apart from those youth who work for the company, others also directly participate in the betting process either in person or online, and have won large amounts of money.
A secondary school pupil, Abdul Kamara recently won Le500, 000, 000 (five hundred million Leones) through online betting. Part of this money was used to finance his education. Like kamara, many students and pupils have benefitted from the betting company making their education very easy and comfortable. These students would surely come to give back to society when it is time to come upon the stage of action.
It also safe to say that without the presence of Mercury in Sierra Leone, most students and pupils would have dropped out of schools and colleges. Mercury’s presence is also felt in the education sector through significant contribution by way of scholarships and other forms of assistance.
The company has constructed two ultra-modern secondary schools in the northern and southern districts of PortLoko and Pujehun respectively. The Dr Kadie Sesay Secondary School for Girls was the first to be constructed two years ago by the sport-betting company. The girls’ school is the first in the history of PortLoko; it is about bringing about a female academic revolution in the northern district.
It is indisputable that for many years, northern region lags behind in the aspect of women and girls’ education. In recent statistics, women and girls in the southern and western regions have topped the list while the northern region has been the least. Eastern and northern regions have permanently remained in the bottom rungs of the academic ladder in Sierra Leone.
Mercury International however is ready to change the old narrative to a new one. Another female secondary school has been put up in the southern district of Pujehun, and both are up and running. In few years to come, the two girls’ schools would produce a quality crop of female academic elites that will significantly commit their energies to the cause of nation building.
By its commitment to girls education, Mercury also strives to realise the fruits of gender parity in Sierra Leone. It is incontrovertible that one cannot talk about equity between men and women, boys and girls if the latter are not educated on a scale equal to their male peers. Sierra Leone has come a long way in women empowerment through education, but much more remains to be done.
Former Vice Chancellor of the University of Sierra Leone, Professor Ekundayor Thompson, years ago, said Sierra Leone was still in dire need of women doctors, engineers, lawyers, economists, accountants, managers that can lift Sierra Leone from under-development and poverty.
Prof Thompson made this statement during a certification ceremony of medical students who were graduating from the College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences. Mercury’s support to education is also a direct response to government’s call for an investment in human capital development. Investing in the country’s human resource is one without equal in the world.
Governments can build roads, bridges and put up monumental edifices to enhance countries’ infrastructures, but these facilities could be destroyed within a twinkle of an eye if government does not educate its citizens especially women. Statistics has also shown that women account for 51% while men population stands at 49%. This means there are more women than men, a situation that justifies Mercury’s spending on women’s education.
The sport-betting company does not only construct learning facilities but also award scholarships to deserving students and pupils with girls at the centre. Sierra Leone’s education system is replete with many scenes in which students have been asked out of exams halls for non payment of fees. With Mercury’s scholarships, fears and worries have been allayed.
Mercury’s corporate philanthropy is also bearing fruits in deprived communities where residents have been helped. A significant number of donations have been made by the company in vulnerable communities in Freetown to make life worth living.
In the area of sports, Mercury has done a lot. When boxers or cricketers wanted to go out of Sierra Leone for competitions, they request Mercury to fund their travels, and the company would readily respond. Although Mercury supports other sectors of the economy for a better Sierra Leone, the media has always at the top of its priority. Kudos to Martin Michael, the able manager of Mercury International.