Orange Sierra Leone (OSL) has been honoured by ISO 9001 for being the best telecoms and internet service provider in the country.
As part of its celebration of the hard-earned accolade, a celebration dinner was held at Lagoonda hotel in Freetown last Thursday attended by heads of government agencies, corporate entities and top-rank public officials including Information Minister, Chernor Bah.
Based in Geneva Switzerland, ISO 9001 is a globally recognised Standard for quality management. It helps organisations of all sizes to improve their performance, meets customer expectations and demonstrates their commitment to quality.
Clinching the ISO 9001 certificate shows that OSL has been putting in place effective processes and training staff to continuously deliver quality products and services to its customers.
Under the ISO 9001, customer satisfaction is at the core of business operations. At OSL’s celebration ceremony, the company’s digital products and services were shocased so that business entities, non-governmental organisations, government institutions and corporate bodies could express interest.
Priscilla Okechukwu is head of Business-to-Business Unit within OSL’s Commercial Department she says OSL strives to meet the customers’ digital transformation needs based on the values of simplicity, exemplarity, excellence, performance and trust.
Most of the company’s products and services, she went on, were “tailor-made” to suit the customers’ convenience and satisfaction.
Products such as data, SMS, CUGs and roaming packages that make businesses run smoothly are available at OSL. In her showcase of the products, the B2B chief identified the communication and integration categories under which OSL operates with fibre optics being the flagship product.
“Our mission is to improve the lives of the people of Sierra Leone,” she pledges adding that the company is ready to work with corporate entities to make it happen.
Speaking at the ceremony, OSL’S Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Sekou Amadu Bah said his institution had been striving for excellence for the past seven years of operation in Sierra Leone.
“We invest in our network to provide quality services to our customers,” the OSL CEO informed the audience. OSL, he said, was the first to be certified by ISO 9001 referring to such accolade as the achievement of a big milestone.
“Such achievement shows that we are providing superior services to the customers. It is a validation and testament of the company’s hard work in providing quality services” he said.
The big honour earned means no complacency for a company striving for excellence as CEO Bah assured the people of Sierra Leone that OSL would continue to maintain high quality service delivery to the people.
Confidence and satisfaction, he says, is at the heart of the company’s operations adding they will monitor and improve ability to meet customers’ needs.
“We will foster a culture of leading and growth so that we can remain at the forefront of the mobile industry. We will provide the best digital service to become the undisputed and preferred provider and also become a first-choice employer,” Mr Bah assured customers.
OSL’s rare achievement also catches the attention of the company’s regulator, National Telecommunication Authority (NATCA).
Its Director-General, Amara Brewah commended OSL for the achievement of a big milestone in the telecoms industry. He called on mining companies and other corporate bodies to do business with OSL as “their service is 99.9 per cent reliable.”
Delivering the keynote address, Information Minister, Chernor Bah sees OSL’s achievement as one meant for Sierra Leone and not only for the company.
He said, OSL’s certificate has put the country “on a trajectory of growth” as it marks a resounding and unparalleled achievement. “It is a pride for Sierra Leone and sign of quality and excellence,” the Information Minister emphasised.
Mr Bah told the audience that Sierra Leone had come a long way in ICTs (Information and Communication Technologies) and continued investment in excellence should be the only way out in a technology-driven nation.
“We look forward to partnering with Orange Sierra Leone,” he assured the company’s officials while urging public entities to do business with the company.
Sierra Leone has a youthful population hovering between 70 and 80% according to global reports and such can be leveraged by the company to create a wide market.
The ISO 9001 certificate is the latest in a series of accolades won by OSL. Few months back, OSL topped the list among 17 countries in Africa and the Middle East in the global Orange Social Venture Prize (OSVP) which supports talents and start-ups for national development.
A Sierra Leonean, Joseph Koroma who pitched the ‘Blood Bank’ project was honoured among thousands of competitors from different parts of the world.
The project is today bearing fruits as it has helped health professionals and patients especially those grappling with blood challenges. Lives have been saved through OSL.
The OSVP continues and OSL will take part in the coming competition. The telecoms company also recently won noble prizes for its commitment to the protection of the environment through zero-carbon emission in all its areas of operation countrywide.
Its activities have always been in line with government’s policies to tackle and mitigate climate change impact on society.
OSL, on several occasions, has also been honoured for ensuring a corrupt-free environment with its ‘tone at the top’ principle for which it is well known. At a ceremony held at OSL headquaters in Freetown, a senior official at the country’s anti-graft agency ranked the company as the most honest and transparent among all corporate entities doing business in Sierra Leone.
In spite of the enviable accolades and great honour, the company continues to invest in communication networks to maintain its leadership and dominance in the telecommunication industry.
After its registration in 2016, OSL has increased its communication site from 200 to close to 500 to reach the unreached. The last man in the last village enjoys OSL’s products and services as the company tirelessly embarks on an expansion amid a global economic crunch.
OSL has the fastest and most reliable networks following the launch of 3G, 4G+ and 5G, a move that puts the company in a class of its own.
Two years back, the company launched a $15m data centre project in the southern capital, Bo as a back up to the one in Freetown.
It also takes pride in a sound and strong CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) policy supporting vulnerable groups In Sierra Leone for which it has earned respect, admiration and cooperation of Sierra Leoneans.
OSL’s presence in Sierra Leone is felt in the health, business and education sectors among others.
It has been supporting government’s Free Health Care policy which covers pregnant women, under-five children and lactating mothers being the most vulnerable groups in society.
In its support to the health sector, OSL has been running a health project in Kroo Bay, one of the biggest slums in Freetown to curtail the rolling statistics of infant and maternal mortality rate.
The company also contributed $1.5m to the Free Quality Education project launched by government in 2018.
The company has also provided scholarships to less privileged pupils and students and constructed six early child development centres in five districts in Sierra Leone.
In the business sector, OSL recently trained over 1,000 Sierra Leonean women in Orange Money operations to make them self-reliant and such investment has been a no mean feat for the country. The company still continues its good works to give back to society.